On the 16th local time, German Finance Minister Krübel met with French Finance Minister Longbar in the suburbs of Berlin. Following the meeting, at a joint conference, Krübel stated:
The tariff policies of the Trump administration in the United States can only lead to a deadlock,
and the United States should not continue to engage in provocative or threatening actions. Instead, it should engage in serious negotiations with the European Union to quickly resolve the tariff dispute.
German Finance Minister Krübel:
Trump’s tariff policies will only result in losers,
the threat they pose to the American economy is no less than that to the European economy,
therefore this tariff conflict must come to an end.
Krübel emphasized that Europe hopes to reach a fair agreement with the United States, but at the same time,
Europe must be prepared to take decisive countermeasures to protect its businesses and employment,
whereby France, the EU, and Germany have unanimous opinions on this point.
On the 12th, US President Trump announced that tariffs would be imposed on imported products from the EU starting from August 1st. The EU subsequently indicated that it was ready to respond with retaliatory tariffs and other measures.
The German Institute for Macroeconomic Policy released a report on the 16th stating that once the US tariff measures are implemented, they will fundamentally suppress Germany’s economic growth in 2025,
and the economic growth in 2026 will also be limited to around 1.2%. Previously, the institute had predicted that Germany’s economy would grow by 0.2% this year and 1.5% next year.
Meanwhile, the report believes that domestic consumer prices in the US will rise due to tariff increases, restraining consumer spending. Under inflationary pressures,
the US monetary policy may continue to tighten, further dragging down economic growth.