The President of the German Federal Association of Wholesale, Foreign Trade, and Services, Dirk Jandura, has warned of potential EU countermeasures in the event of new US tariffs on European imports, should the newly elected US President, Donald Trump, implement such measures.
“Countermeasures would be the wrong approach” Jandura told the Rheinische Post. “In a trade war, there are only losers. US tariffs would be a severe blow to transatlantic trade relations and global trade as a whole. Undoubtedly, the German economy would suffer significantly. The US has been a major export market for Germany for a long time” the BGA President said.
“We do not currently expect high US tariffs to be implemented. It is part of President Trump’s strategy to set high goals in order to achieve his objectives” Jandura added. “Furthermore, such a policy would have price-increasing effects in the US market, as many products are no longer produced in the US.”
“However, we should not constantly focus on what the US might or might not want. The more important question is: what does Germany, what does the EU want? What are our strategic visions in this rapidly changing world? To be honest, I miss the answers from our political decision-makers” Jandura concluded.