Impending trade war: Merz wants to customize Turbo deal with Trump

Chancellor Friedrich Merz is pushing speed in the customs negotiations with the United States. “Better and easy now than slowly and highly complicated,” he said after consultations at an EU summit in Brussels. The tariffs introduced by US President Donald Trump endangered German companies. A solution is particularly needed for the automotive industry, the chemical industry, the pharmaceutical industry, mechanical engineering and steel and aluminum industry.

At the same time, Merz emphasized that he did not criticize the current negotiation of the responsible EU Commission. “I only proposed and pushed to make it too complicated,” he said. Until July 9, you only have less than two weeks. “And you can’t make a sophisticated trade agreement.”

The deadline runs on July 9th

Against the background, Merz said that US President Donald Trump wants to enter into force even more tariffs from July 9th if the EU does not accommodate the United States on trade issues. The Republican justifies his course with the fact that he wants to correct alleged trade weights. At the same time, customs revenues should serve to at least partially counter its expensive election promise of large tax cuts. The EU Commission, on the other hand, sees the tariffs as not justified and incompatible with the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

In the event that there is no acceptable agreement with the United States, the authority wants to quickly impose tariffs. Merz expressed support for this course. “If there is no agreement on the tariffs, the European Union is ready and able to take appropriate measures,” he said after the summit consultations ended.

The EU Commission does not provide any information about the exact state of negotiations. However, on Thursday, she confirmed the receipt of a new US offer for an agreement. It should now be checked.