Germany’s Merz welcomes US-China trade deal

BERLIN

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Wednesday welcomed the US-China trade deal and voiced hope that Europeans would also resolve their trade conflict with Washington.

“Yes, I explicitly welcome this. This does not come at Europe’s expense, but rather represents another conflict that has been resolved,” Merz told a press conference in Berlin when asked about US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a deal with China.

“I explicitly welcome this and I very much hope that we will also succeed in reducing the trade conflicts with the Americans in a similar way and, if possible, eliminating them,” he said.

Merz also repeated his proposal for a free trade agreement between the European Union and the United States, and lifting all trade tariffs.

“It remains my personal conviction, and that of the entire federal government, that open markets, free trade, and access to raw materials is the best solution for all parties involved and we want to contribute to making this happen,” Merz said. “I therefore welcome that there has been such an agreement between the US and China and I very much hope that we will also succeed in reaching appropriate agreements with the US.”

Earlier Wednesday, Trump announced that a trade deal between Washington and Beijing covering rare earth export controls had been completed and was now subject to final approval by the presidents of both countries.

On social media, he said the US “is getting a total of 55% tariffs, China is getting 10%.”

“Full magnets, and any necessary rare earths, will be supplied, up front, by China,” he said. “Likewise, we will provide to China what was agreed to, including Chinese students using our colleges and universities (which has always been good with me!).”

Trump has suggested in recent months that US schools should admit fewer foreign students and more American ones.

Earlier this week high-level representatives from the US and China convened in London for crucial discussions aimed at resolving the tariff dispute between the world’s two largest economies.

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