A surprise blow from Washington makes you breathe a sigh of relief

Stand: 06:23 | Reading time: 3 minutes

D The trade dispute between the EU and the US has eased for the moment. The head of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, and the US President, Donald Trump, have agreed in Washington, surprisingly, for the moment, to waive special taxes on European cars. Instead, there should be negotiations to reduce trade barriers. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin confirmed Thursday that the US wanted to ignore the threat of tariffs on imported cars during EU negotiations. In the financial markets, the operation was received partly euphoric: the Dax dominant index in Frankfurt at the close of trading increased by 1.8%, auto stocks have sometimes increased by more than five to hundred. From politics and the economy came many positive reactions, but also skeptical tones.

Trump and Juncker felt that the chances of success were still low before their conversation at the White House. Germany's Minister of Economic Affairs, Peter Altmaier (CDU), therefore called Juncker a "big" bargain. It is now planned to negotiate an early overall tariff reduction – especially for industrial products. Europeans approached Trump by introducing more soybeans and liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States. Trump is currently under pressure from farmers especially because their soy business with China is suffering a lot from the trade dispute. Major American automakers are also feeling the effects of the dispute over the additional tariffs of steel and aluminum. Thus, Ford and General Motors have lowered their business forecasts.

For the German economy with flagships such as Daimler and BMW, it is especially the temporary abandonment of special car rates that is crucial. "There is a real chance of preventing additional tariffs or even a trade war between the United States and the EU," the VDA said. Similarly expressed the industry association: "The tariff spiral in transatlantic trade seems for the moment stopped," said BDI chairman Dieter Kempf. However, the acts must now follow the words.

Altmaier Juncker and EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström congratulated the federal government. "Customs down, not up," he tweeted. Free trade and millions of jobs are insured. Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) said that on the sidelines of a visit to South Korea, Washington's result was better than expected. On the other hand, the SPD leader, Andrea Nahles, spoke more cautiously of a delay than the Europeans would have received. The real goal has not yet been achieved. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi hailed the merger as a "good sign". This shows that there is a willingness to discuss the trade issue in a multilateral setting. However, it was still too early to judge the details.

Even among economic experts, the echo was mixed. Gabriel Felbermayr, Head of the Center for Foreign Trade at the Ifo Institute in Munich, regards German car manufacturers as the primary beneficiaries. It was also "positive" that EU Trade Commissioner Malmström and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer appeared to have "made good and unobtrusive preparations in the background". "The Beijing Tribute, however, will not happen sooner, there they would have wanted a common front against Trump," said Felbermayr WORLD. The director of the German Institute for Economic Research, Marcel Fratzscher, sees a relaxation. "But it's still not clear." He expects Trump to continue to use the subject of punitive tariffs for German cars as leverage.

It also remains open that the EU's commitments – for example, for more liquefied natural gas imported from the United States may be. The German energy industry has already reacted with caution. "LNG is still a price problem and currently, LNG shipments to the US are not competitive with other gas sources," said Thomas Kusterer, EnBW's Chief Financial Officer. 19659012] [ad_2]
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