German Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leader Friedrich Merz has told news agency DPA he would support a new attempt at talks on a free trade deal with the US.
Merz said in an interview published on January 2 that Europe’s economy will face challenging conditions under US President-elect Donald Trump. Still, Germany and Europe should respond by restoring competitiveness, not imposing tariffs, he said.
“We need a positive agenda with the US that benefits American and European consumers alike,” Merz said.
“A new European-American initiative for joint free trade could prevent a dangerous spiral of tariffs,” added the leader of the opposition CDU.
Trump, who will take office on January 20 about a month before Germany holds federal elections, ended talks on a proposed trade deal between the European Union and the US during his first term as president and pursued several trade disputes with the EU.
Ahead of the 2024 US elections, Trump said he would place high tariffs on EU goods, which would hit the already lagging German economy particularly hard as the US is the largest buyer of its goods.
Merz added that Germany needed to gradually lower its corporate taxes to 25 per cent and tackle non-wage labour costs to make the country an attractive place to do business again.
Then Germany could tell the US: “Yes, we are ready to face this competition with you as well,” he said.
US tech billionaire Elon Musk has faced criticism from German politicians after expressing support for the right-wing party Alternative for Germany (AfD) in an opinion piece. https://t.co/ZDhhyd89e1
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) December 30, 2024
