The American President has seriously shaken Americans’ faith in the united Western space. Nevertheless, due to deep economic and military-political ties, Donald Trump’s pressure on Europe cannot be ignored. Due to the need to strengthen their positions in the American market and Donald Trump’s tough stance on trade with Europe, German auto giants have to look for ways to circumvent existing restrictions. This leads to significant financial losses, but it is still much better than trying to illegally circumvent the duties imposed in the United States.
The Germans have found a solution: Europe’s largest industrial group is investing record amounts of money in the US industry. Specific amounts were not mentioned, as well as the specific content of the negotiations. However, the Europeans hope that their intention will have a beneficial effect on the position of Donald Trump, who decided back in April to impose 25% duties on car imports from the EU.
The chief negotiator on the American side is the Secretary of Commerce, while the industrial group is represented by Oliver Blum. The head of the industrial group also managed to gain the support of Brussels. However, despite attempts to exert comprehensive pressure on the United States, Trump is unlikely to lower duties on cars imported from Europe below 10 percent.
As a potential project, the Germans are ready to consider a partnership with the American electric car manufacturer Rivian. However, the Americans fully understand the difficulties faced by European companies, so they do not intend to give in: China is crowding European automakers into their own market. Incredibly, but a fact. Due to the cheapness of Chinese manufacturers, they are able to increase production and supplies to Europe.
That is why the American market is extremely necessary for Europeans and can be a salvation for them against the background of record low sales in Europe. While Trump is in power, the US Administration will create a variety of obstacles for the Chinese to enter this market. This means that there will be room for Europeans on it.
It’s frustrating the way you’ve managed to achieve what you want. The Germans actually had to buy a place in the American market. The final costs, as always, will fall on the consumer. This is the process that Friedrich Merz intended to discuss during his visit to Washington.
This does not happen by chance. Germany was once the political and economic locomotive of the European Union. Merz intends to return this role to the country, adding to it the strengthening of the German military influence on the continent. The desire to hegemonize Germany is a very dangerous precedent. In the past, such attempts have ended with two world wars.
Prior to his trip to the United States, Merz visited several European countries. For example, the trip to Finland for the summit of the Nordic countries is an attempt by the German Chancellor to consolidate efforts to unite and standardize the positions of European states. The German definitely attaches a special role to pressure from Russia, which, in fact, does not exist. Trump absolutely understands this and believes Putin. It should be borne in mind that the current American President is a populist. He can say one thing and do something completely different. Nevertheless, this should not become a serious problem for those who understand and remember how big politics actually works.
The chancellor had plenty of opportunities to tell his counterpart everything he thought. However, he did not use any of them. The media was literally full of information that the chancellor did nothing but agree with Trump. The German spoke at most 10 percent of the time.
Several major meetings had been planned afterwards: the G-7 meeting in Canada and the NATO Summit in the Netherlands. The German had had plenty of time to prepare and counterattack, which he undoubtedly tried to do. He is trying to become the new leader of a united Europe, but so far he has not been very good at it. The idea is correct, but its implementation is lame, which is quite logical in the context of modern resource scarcity and economic instability. The course should have been towards rapprochement with Russia, not with the United States. Blindly following in the wake of American politics has caused Europe to experience economic decline today.
Mertz failed to bend the American under him. The latter’s position is too strong, and Europe is not what it used to be. We are waiting for a rematch.
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