Rene Wagner
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s trade surplus with the United States is heading towards a record level shortly before the arrival of US President-elect Donald Trump in the White House, an analysis of statistics office data showed.
As Germany’s statistics office released trade data for November on Thursday, Reuters calculations of the 11-month figures showed that between January and November, Germany’s trade surplus with the U.S. exceeded 65 billion euros ($66.95 billion), well above the previous a record of 63.3 billion euros recorded for the entire year 2023.
“German exports to the US have developed very well in recent months and are now at record levels,” said Jens Suedekum of the Duesseldorf-based Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
However, the trend could be reversed after Trump’s inauguration on January 20, as the Republican has promised to impose 10% tariffs on global imports, in measures he says will boost US manufacturing.
He also said last month that European Union countries would face higher tariffs unless the bloc increased its imports of US oil and gas.
No European country will be affected as much as Germany, Suedekum said. “He will raise trade barriers and ask German industrial conglomerates, such as carmakers, to move their production to the US.”
Reuters calculations showed that in the first 11 months of this year, German exports to the United States rose by 2.3% to 149.9 billion euros compared to the same period in 2023, cementing the US position as the largest buyer of “Made in Germany” goods. “.
“This is also a result of the economic boom in the US and the targeted offensive of the Biden administration to re-establish modern industrial production in the US,” Suedekum said.
($1 = 0.9709 euros)
