The DIHK Foreign Trade Committee is one of the most important bodies of the IHK organisation in the field of international economic policy. It consists of around 100 representatives from companies as well as Chambers of Industry and Commerce (IHKs) and meets twice a year. The committee analyses foreign trade developments, identifies challenges for the German economy, and formulates impulses for the DIHK's political work.

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Interview Internationaler Handel

"Our reliability is valued worldwide"

Chairman of the DIHK Committee on Foreign Trade for four years, re-elected in April 2021: Dr. Peter Kulitz assesses the current global economic situation and shares the advice he gives his children.

On September 24 and 25, 2025, the DIHK Foreign Trade Committee convened in Wolfsburg.

During one-and-a-half intensive days, we held exciting discussions: At the evening talk with Thomas Schäfer (Member of the Board of Volkswagen AG and CEO of the Volkswagen brand), Grant Hendrik Tonne (Minister for Economic Affairs, Transport and Construction of Lower Saxony), and Andreas Kirschenmann (President of the IHK Lüneburg-Wolfsburg), the focus was on industry in the geopolitical tension field. The following day, discussions centred on foreign trade relations with China, export controls and de-risking, the interplay of trade and industrial policy, as well as transatlantic relations amid trade conflicts.

The following members belong to the DIHK Foreign Trade Committee: