The European Commission and China may be near a deal to avoid a dispute at the World Trade Organization and a wider trade war. But officials say they must convince EU lawmakers angry over record Chinese steel output.

The Commission is set to accept a change to China's trade status at the WTO by treating it as a market economy. That would benefit China and make it easier for it to export into the bloc. China is the European Union's second-largest trading partner after the United States. Europe is China's top trading partner.