Merz talked to the President of the US during the Thursday telephone conversation. On Friday he visited the capital of Belgium to meet with the bosses of EU and NATO.
– I hope that at least in the short term we will be able to make progress in lowering existing duties – said Merz and the chairwoman of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. – And in the long term also in the scope of the trade agreement.
Merz emphasized that the EU and the US should conclude a mutual agreement “zero-zero”, something that the Commission also proposed in relation to industrial goods. This contrasts with the new, narrow trading agreement of Trump with Great Britain, which maintains 10 % duties on most British goods and which Merz praised on Friday.
“What happened will not go back anymore”
The new German Chancellor also regretted that previous talks on the transatlantic trade agreement have never been completed. “Today we know how valuable they could be,” he said. “Unfortunately, what happened will not go back anymore,” he added.
Merz argued that he should offer EU out of customs duties [USA] “wide recognition” of technical standards due to “huge potential for opening markets”. An example would be car regulations.
In an interview with Trump, Merz emphasized that the American president would have to negotiate with the EU, not with individual Member States. “The closest trading partner of the United States is not Germany, France or Poland, but Europe and the European Union,” he said.
