18.01.2026 – "The announced tariffs unfortunately show once again how unpredictable US trade policy has become. Since last year, burdens on our companies doing business in the US have already reached record levels. The newly threatened tariffs would entail further notable additional cuts. The drop in German exports to the USA by almost ten percent in 2025 would therefore only be a prelude.

New to the current announcement is: The US President now wants to achieve specific political goals with harsh economic pressure on European countries. He does not target the EU as a whole but individual member states. Politically highly controversial objectives are unacceptably linked with economic sanctions – all at the expense of German, other European companies, and American consumers.

The European Union must now act together; it must not allow itself to be divided. Economic coercion against individual member states can only be countered by Brussels with a clear and united stance. The European Parliament's approval of reducing EU tariffs on US industrial goods next week has thus become very unlikely for understandable reasons. Given the current threat, it is hardly conceivable to set EU tariff rates for many American goods to zero. Additionally, all instruments of EU trade protection – including the Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI) – must now be examined. However, its application should remain a last resort.

From an economic perspective, de-escalation and resolving the current conflict should continue to be the focus. The expansion into a trade war would benefit no one but harm everyone. However, the political regulatory and decision-making sovereignty of our economic area must remain untouched. The German government and the EU are therefore called upon to act resolutely and united.

All efforts by the EU to reduce dependencies and to network the German economy even more globally are currently especially important. The Mercosur Agreement signed last Saturday is a strong contribution to this strategy."