China overtakes US as Germany’s top trading partner (www.theguardian.com)
from schizoidman@lemmy.zip to world@lemmy.world on 22 Feb 12:07
https://lemmy.zip/post/59571384

Germany’s Federal Statistical Office released figures on Friday showing that China is back on top as the country’s most important market with €251bn (£219bn) in trade in 2025, up 2.2% on 2024 when the US was the country’s leading export destination.

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roguetrick@lemmy.world on 22 Feb 12:44 next collapse

Germany’s need to support the car industry, one of the country’s biggest employers, has made its approach to barriers to Chinese imports less black and white.

It voted against an EU decision to introduce tariffs on Chinese EVs in 2024 and this month was spared EU tariffs on imports of the Chinese-built Volkswagen Cupra Tavascan SUV in exchange for undertakings on the minimum price of the vehicle.

I’m having a hard time parsing this. It’s supporting the car industry offshoring as an economic boon for one of its biggest employers?

ViatorOmnium@piefed.social on 22 Feb 12:48 collapse

It’s about having deals that will allow the German oligarchs to partially own the Chinese brands. Do you think Merz actually cares about common Germans?

roguetrick@lemmy.world on 22 Feb 12:55 collapse

I do not I just can’t believe these neolibs are that fucking bold faced about it. Like I get sacrificing one manufacturing industry for another. That’s industrial policy, even if it’s often corrupt. But this is sacrificing a manufacturing industry for its owners. It’s just… stupid.

ConstructiveVandalism@piefed.zip on 22 Feb 13:49 next collapse

Is this good for Germany? No.

Is this bad for US? Absolutely 

lolrightythen@lemmy.world on 22 Feb 14:47 next collapse

Do I think I would have made a decent parent? Yes.

Am I constantly reassured I made the correct decision in not procreating? Also yes.

Hubi@feddit.org on 22 Feb 14:59 collapse

I don’t see how this would be “bad” for Germany. It really makes no difference which authoritarian state is in first place, except that the US has proven to be much more unpredictable than China in recent months.

davel@lemmy.ml on 22 Feb 15:26 next collapse

It’s pretty amazing how quickly the US speed-ran through decades of anti-communist & anti-China propaganda.

wheezy@lemmy.ml on 22 Feb 19:52 collapse

It never left. They just changed from

“oh man these communist are so evil. Look at how little they pay their workers. We’re forced to move all our industry there.”

to

“Oh man, these Chinese “stole” all of our shit when we moved our entire industry to their country to exploit cheap labor and now they are ‘cheating’ by beating us at capitalism by doing communism too hard.”

ConstructiveVandalism@piefed.zip on 22 Feb 15:39 next collapse

It’s not worse but also not good. Would be better to rely more on a strong Europe.

arrow74@lemmy.zip on 22 Feb 15:41 collapse

Trading one outside power for another is what’s bad. The good solution is to build a group of nations that work together in parity.

Better trading partner than the US doesn’t mean good trading partner

JoMiran@lemmy.ml on 22 Feb 14:07 next collapse

The art of the deal.

[deleted] on 22 Feb 14:51 next collapse
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FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world on 22 Feb 15:08 collapse

I said it a year ago. New trade deals take 1-2 years to take effect, and as Donald’s presidency rolls on, we’re going to see the massive downhill consequences of his unilateral tariff bullshit. The supply chain is eventually going to route itself around, rather than through, the United States.

Not that he’ll care. He’ll have squeezed every last penny out of the grift before the consequences are passed on to the American people, just as Bush did with Iraq and the ‘Great Recession’ and Obama did with the bailouts and the foreclosure crisis.