Germany on the Firing Line

Ever since U.S. President Donald Trump started a global trade war, attacking high German current account surpluses and threatening penalty tariffs on German cars, Germany’s economic model as the basis for the extraordinarily strong position of German quality brands on world markets moves further into the firing line. Faced with the threat of a 35 percent tariff on imported cars in the United States, Sigmar Gabriel, then Germany’s economic minister, hit back, saying, “The American car industry is getting worse, weaker and more expensive.” If U.S. buyers are choosing German models, as Trump suggests, then “that’s why the U.S. needs to build better cars,” rather than penalizing Competition.

Further reading here …