Confidence between Europe and the United States is not yet broken despite the aggressive pricing policies of President Donald Trump, said Joerg Kukies, acting German Minister on Thursday.
“In order for confidence to be broken, much more should occur because the transatlantic partnership has been built over the decades that we will not get carried away by the prices declaration,” he told Carolin Roth of CNBC on the sidelines of the IMF World Bank's Spring Meetings.
Kukies added that during a previous visit to Washington, shortly after the 25% prices on all cars imported in the United States has been announcedThere seemed to be an interest in reaching an agreement.
Europe and the United States have different interests and both parties must understand the views of each other, he said. “But this is not the first time that the United States and Europe have been negotiating prices, so I don't think we are near a moment of crisis.”
Kukies took a positive tone when he referred to talks, saying that “everything happens in negotiation mode” with the “optimistic” block according to which he can resolve the differences.
A zero price agreement for zero would be its favorite result, said Kukies. This aligns with what the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has recommended For.
However, Trump has already rejected A proposal from the European Union for an agreement which would see zero percentage of rights on industrial goods imported from the United States as well as on imports of the EU.
Germany is currently subject to 10% prices – the temporarily reduced Rate announced by Trump after the tasks initially imposed by 20%.
The country's economy in difficulty depends on trade, because the United States is its most important trading partner. Trump's tariff disorders should therefore hit Germany particularly difficult.
Earlier Thursday, the German government revised its forecasts down the country's economic growth, saying that it was now expecting stagnation in 2025. This is compared to January estimate 0.3% growth.
The interim minister of the economy, Robert Habeck, at a press conference, cited the trade policies of US President Donald Trump and their impact on the German economy as the main reason for downward revision.
THE IMF In his last Global economic prospectsWhich was published earlier this week also reduced its expectations for the German economy, the organization now provides a contraction of 0.2%.
The German economy has been struggling for some time, markets in 2023 and 2024 on an annual basis. However, the country has avoided a technical recession, which is characterized by two consecutive quarters of contraction. The latest gross domestic product data should be published next week.
However, there could also be positive points On the horizon after a major tax packageWhat could lead to a major boost was registered in the German Constitution at the beginning of this year. It included changes to the long -term debt rule which are planned to allow higher defense expenses, as well as an infrastructure investment fund of € 500 billion ($ 569 billion).
The brake of the German debt limits government debt and dictates the size of the structural budget deficit of the federal government
