- Title: Merkel, responding to Trump, says Europe's fate is in its own hands
- Date: 16th January 2017
- Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (JANUARY 16, 2017) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF CHANCELLORY GERMAN CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL AND NEW ZEALAND PRIME MINISTER BILL ENGLISH ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE REPORTERS MERKEL AND ENGLISH BEHIND MICROPHONES REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR, ANGELA MERKEL, SAYING: "I think for us Europeans we have our fate in our own hands. I will continue to work for an efficient cooperation between the 27 member states. Economic strength, efficient decisions, commitment to our goals, dealing with the challenges of the 21st century - that is fighting terrorism, securing external borders, providing internal security, the digital internal market, job - those are our challenges and we will continue to deal with them in a concentrated way. Other than that let me say it again: My views on transatlantic questions are known. The president elect made his points again. Once he is in office - which he is not at the moment - we will of course work together with the American government. Then we will see what sort of cooperation we can achieve." MERKEL AND ENGLISH TAKING QUESTIONS FRANKFURT, GERMANY (JANUARY 16, 2017) (REUTERS) TRADING FLOOR AT THE FRANKFURT STOCK EXCHANGE CARSTEN BRZESKI, CHIEF ECONOMIST AT ING DIBA BANK, WALKING VARIOUS OF DAX INDEX BOARD (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHIEF ECONOMIST AT ING DIBA BANK, CARSTEN BRZESKI, SAYING: "If we really take Mr. Trump's words for granted then we do see the end of free trade. This is the start for a trade war. It's the start for a period of protectionism. The hope is that in the end his policies will not be as harmful as they sound right now. But if you look at these policies of 'own country first', trying to isolate the country from foreign companies, trying to impose tariffs - this will lead to retaliations from other countries, namely that the EU then will also increase border tariffs. And this clearly is the end of free trade." TRADER LOOKING AT SCREEN VARIOUS OF DAX INDEX BOARD
- Embargoed: 30th January 2017 13:50
- Keywords: Trump USA imports tariffs Merkel Brzeski
- Location: BERLIN, FRANKFURT, GERMANY
- City: BERLIN, FRANKFURT, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0015ZBZ9ZB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Europe's destiny lies in its own hands, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday (January 16) in response to comments from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who said in a newspaper interview he believed other countries would leave the EU after Britain.
"I think we Europeans have our fate in our own hands," Merkel told a joint news conference with New Zealand's Prime Minister Bill English. Asked about Trump's criticism of her migrant policy, Merkel said: "I am personally waiting for the inauguration of the U.S. president. Then of course we will work with him on all levels."
Economists fear an end of free trade if Donald Trump should really implement all the policies he and his team are discussing. "If you look at these policies of 'own country first', trying to isolate the country from foreign companies, trying to impose tariffs - this will lead to retaliations from other countries, namely that the EU then will also increase border tariffs. And this clearly is the end of free trade," said Carsten Brzeski, chief economist at ING Diba bank.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump warned German car companies he would impose a border tax of 35 percent on vehicles imported to the U.S. market, a plan that drew sharp rebukes from Berlin and hit the automakers' shares.
In an interview with German newspaper Bild, published on Monday, Trump criticised German carmakers such as BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen for failing to produce more cars on U.S. soil.
"If you want to build cars in the world, then I wish you all the best. You can build cars for the United States, but for every car that comes to the USA, you will pay 35 percent tax," Trump said in remarks translated into German.
"I would tell BMW that if you are building a factory in Mexico and plan to sell cars to the USA, without a 35 percent tax, then you can forget that," Trump said. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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