Germany wants clarity on US President Donald Trump's tariff policy for the sake of a EU-US trade deal agreed last year, a government spokesman said on Monday, reported dpa.
It comes after the US Supreme Court dealt a heavy blow to Trump's trade policy on Friday, ruling that the legal basis used for many of the tariffs imposed on nearly all of the country's trading partners was unjustified.
Last summer, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Trump agreed on a maximum tariff of 15% on most EU imports into the US.
The legally binding agreement still needs to be approved by the European Parliament, but German government spokesman Stefan Kornelius said it was currently unclear whether a planned preliminary vote in the EU Trade Committee scheduled for Tuesday would take place.
Berlin is asking that the Supreme Court ruling be carefully examined and that consequences only be drawn "once the actual extent is clearly foreseeable," he said.
Following his Supreme Court setback, Trump first announced on Friday worldwide import tariffs of 10% to the US, but then raised that on Saturday to 15%.
Trump is basing these tariffs on a 1974 trade law, but it only allows such measures for up to 150 days.
Germany is coordinating closely with its European partners to figure out what kind of US tariffs to expect in the future, Kornelius said.
"We also expect the American side to very quickly come up with a clear policy that will enable us to respond," the spokesman said.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz is expected in Washington in the coming days to present "a coordinated European position" on Trump's tariffs, the German leader said at the weekend.
The European Commission has also stressed it needs more clarity from the US following last week's events.
"When we have a clear picture on precisely what the implications of the Supreme Court ruling are for the US, what steps they intend to take, what measures they intend to put in place arising from that ruling, then we will have the clarity we need to make a proper assessment and take further decisions," a spokesman said on Monday.
- Germany
- US
- Tariffs
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
