It seems that President Donald Trump has been talking aloud about his views on the German car industry. The Germans have heard about his complaints and the German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has reacted to his criticisms.
RT reported that in an interview last Monday, Trump complained about Americans buying too many German cars while the Germans do not purchase U.S. cars. Trump also criticized the fact that automakers based in Germany are not producing enough cars in the U.S. He added that the U.S. would impose a 35 percent tax on imported cars under his administration.
"That's not my vision of America, and I don't think it's his either," Schaeuble said in an interview with Spiegel Magazine. He mentioned that the United States is a signatory to some international agreements that President Trump wants to renege. He said that Germany will insist that the agreements will be followed.
Sigmar Gabriel, Germany's Vice Chancellor and Economic Minister, also reacted to Trump' criticisms. He said that "the U.S. needs to build better cars." He also stressed that the statements made by Trump in the tweets or less formal forms of communication should not be construed as government policy.
It is known that American companies provide more than 600,000 jobs in Germany, which is a major trading partner of the U.S. in Europe. German companies, on the other hand, employs about the same number of employees in the U.S.
Minister Schaeuble reiterated that there are no sustainable benefits in Trump's protectionist policy. "Whoever wants growth - and I trust this administration will be a growth-friendly one - must be in favor of open markets. Protectionism can afford short-term advantages but is almost always damaging in the long term," he said in an interview with Wall Street Journal.
Regarding President Trump's threat of imposing an import tariff on BMW cars from its Mexico plant, BMW announced that cars produced there are for the world market and not exclusively intended for the U.S. market. This is part of the reactions from Germany and its car industry to criticisms made by President Trump.
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