German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is reportedly preparing for future confrontations with U.S. President Donald Trump. According to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Merz commissioned a list from his staff that identifies areas in which the United States is particularly economically or politically dependent on Germany. The list represents a response to Trump’s repeated attempts to leverage his country’s economic might to compel political concessions from allies. The European Union commission is said to maintain a similar inventory.
The confidential inventory held by the Chancellery includes German exports that play a key role in the U.S. economy-such as specialised machinery, medical equipment, steel products and construction vehicles. It also names sites and installations that are strategically important to the United States. Notable examples are Cologne‑Bonn airport, which serves as a hub for major U.S. logistics companies like UPS, FedEx and Amazon; the U.S. Air Force base at Ramstein in Rhineland‑Palatinate; and the U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, which is the largest U.S. medical facility outside the United States.
The Süddeutsche Zeitung reports that the existence of this extensive list does not in itself mean it will be immediately deployed. The dossier is intended to remain confidential to avoid provoking Trump unnecessarily. Nevertheless, following the experience of the Greenland dispute, Merz wants to be clearly aware of the leverage at his disposal should a new conflict arise, thereby aligning himself with American-and, more broadly, Chinese-strategies.
Stefan Mair, director of the German Foundation for International and Security Affairs (SWP), said it is prudent for Berlin, like Brussels, to agree on a “robust agenda”. He added that Trump is a leader who responds to pressure, as the Greenland episode showed. Mair believes Merz is drawing clear red lines, but cautions that in security matters Germany still faces constraints: it is currently unable to defend itself conventionally on its own.