On paper the EU may have strong trade barriers with China, but in practice this just does not bear out. Europe has stronger trade barriers within itself than with China.
The EU demands that goods made in Poland conforms to some standards, but also that the manufacturers in Poland conform to some standards. For goods from China they in theory demand the same standards, but in practice these standards are not strictly enforced for goods from China (see AliExpress, Temu, Shein, etc), and there are no regulation on the manufacturers. Chinese manufacturers use slave labour, they pollute, they don't give their employees similar rights and benefits.
It's also way easier and cheaper for most Europeans to buy something from China than it is to buy something from within Europe, even though the actual selling price out of the factory is not that much higher for things manufactured in Europe. I pay the same "tariffs" if I buy from Sweden or AliExpress.
It is a bit hypocritical of the EU to push tariffs against the EU citizens, forcing higher prices. Tariffs can sometimes make sense, such as for an emerging industry, but counter-tariffs are often the outcome and we here are punished by higher prices. If the EU wants to be relevant, they also need to produce at a lower price; China is conquering markets because it simply is more competitive now.
China has better quality manufacturing at a cheaper price than EU and China. They aren't pushing out junk, it's well engineered, well, manufactured good which are almost impossible to produce at all in Europe never mind produce at a cheaper price, but still Europe allows these things to be imported with less strict barriers than they have against goods produced in European countries themselves.
Same, they push tariffs it seems mostly to protect automotive industry from competition, the industry which has grown bloated and rent-seeking over the years.
Even more so when you take build quality and support quality in the equation.
We have high tariffs with China as well though. I wish we didn't, then I might actually be able to afford an electric car.