Merkel opens the door to a possible lowering of customs taxes

Avoid trade war at any cost. The German Chancellor said on Thursday she was "ready" to consider a general drop in auto taxes to defuse the EU-US trade dispute. A step forward, but provided that "all countries" involved are involved. Such a negotiation, "to which I would be ready", can not be conducted only between the European Union and the United States, "but with all the countries with which we market cars," told the press in Berlin German Chancellor

Angela Merkel said it needed "a common European position" on this subject, which is "under development", and referred the issue to the upcoming visit of the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker in Washington, expected before the end of the month. But already, the German leader opens the debate on a proposal made Wednesday evening in Berlin by the US ambbadador to Germany, Richard Grenell, a close friend of US President Donald Trump, to the leaders of the three German car manufacturers Volkswagen, BMW and Daimler and the Continental equipment supplier

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At this closed-door meeting, confirmed to an AFP journalist by an industrial source, Richard Grenell proposed that both the United States and Europe raise their current taxes on auto imports, rather than to impose new ones. "We must ensure the equal treatment of all trading partners," said Angela Merkel, dismissing the possibility of bilateral negotiations between Washington and Brussels. But fundamentally, a multilateral waiver of auto taxes "is an option I can imagine," she added.

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Donald Trump threatens him, soon, to raise tariffs on imports of cars from the European Union to 20%, which would strike in particular Germany, whose economy in general is very dependent on this industry.