Russia's attack on Ukraine also caught Germany cold - in the form of skyrocketing energy costs. Chancellor Scholz now promises that this should not happen a second time and advocates new trade agreements with the USA and South America.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has spoken out in favor of an industrial tariffs agreement with the USA. The SPD politician said at the "Economic Summit" of the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" that he was glad that progress was "hopefully" made on trade agreements with New Zealand, Australia, India, Mexico, Chile and after the election in Brazil with the South American economic alliance Mercosur.
"We should also take a very close look at the idea of an industrial tariff agreement with the USA." Such an agreement would "always be better" than a bidding war on subsidies and protective tariffs, which some see "coming towards us" as a result of the American anti-inflation law, said Scholz.
The United States wants to invest tens of billions of dollars in climate protection over the next ten years, for example to promote the manufacture of solar cells and wind turbines. It is now feared that European and German companies will relocate to the USA or open new plants there.
The traffic light coalition recently agreed to ratify the European-Canadian free trade agreement CETA and to deepen the partnership with the USA. Scholz acknowledged globalization. Germany and Europe in particular, with their high-tech and export-oriented economy, are dependent on an international division of labor.
However, Scholz campaigned for a broader positioning of the German economy in transactions with international partners. "A mistake of dependency like that of Russia does not happen to us a second time," he said, referring to China. German companies are innovative and adaptable and do not have to worry about developing into a multipolar world.
"There are many other strong nations that go unnoticed," he said, referring to India, Indonesia, Vietnam and South Korea. After talks with the German economy, he was convinced that the diversification, i.e. the increased focus on other markets, had been going on for a long time.
