Foreign trade
High excess for “Made in Germany” in the USA
There are numbers that US President Trump should not like: The youngest German export surplus in the trade in the USA is huge. It remains to be seen whether higher tariffs will change something.
Motor vehicles and vehicle parts, machines and electrical engineering: German companies delivered significantly more goods to the USA in the first quarter than the other way around. German exports to the United States exceeded almost 75 percent from there from there in the period January to March 2025, as the Federal Statistical Office calculated.
US President Donald Trump accuses the Europeans to “rip off” the USA and want to force more balance in world trade with higher tariffs on imports to the United States. It is open whether this strategy works.
Last deficit in trade in the USA 1991
Germany has achieved excess surpluses in foreign trade with the United States for more than three decades. The last trade deficit with the United States was in 1991.
According to the Wiesbaden statisticians, “Made in Germany” were delivered to the USA in the first three months of the current year. In turn, Germany was worth 23.5 billion euros from the United States – such as oil, natural gas and soybeans.
The resulting German export surplus of 17.7 billion was by far the highest compared to a trading partner in the first quarter of 2025.
dpa
Source: Stern
