The threat of a tariff war

Germany trembles at Trump’s radical plan

In future, less could be shipped to the USA from the port of Hamburg.(Bild: AFP/Axel Heimken)

Donald Trump has announced his intention to impose tariffs on the world. This is intended to make imports more expensive and the US more attractive as a business location. In Germany alone, this radical approach could cost hundreds of thousands of jobs.

According to the "Süddeutsche Zeitung", Trump's tariff policy threatens 300,000 jobs in Germany. In an advance report, the newspaper referred to calculations by the Institute for Macroeconomics and Economic Research (IMK). According to these calculations, the figure applies in the event that the Republican makes good on his threat of tariffs of ten to 20 percent and other countries respond with counter-tariffs.

A second scenario deals with the case that Trump introduces tariffs at the lower end of the announced range. The IMK then assumes the loss of 200,000 jobs in Germany. In the automotive industry alone, tens of thousands of jobs are on the line.

As the newspaper further reported, citing calculations by the Prognos Institute, 1.2 million jobs in Germany are mathematically dependent on exports to the USA. This is ten percent of all jobs that are directly and indirectly dependent on exports.

New authority announced
US President-elect Trump has announced the establishment of a new federal agency to collect customs duties and other revenue from abroad. He will create the "External Revenue Service" by decree on the Monday following his inauguration, the Republican announced on his short message service Truth Social on Tuesday.

"The American economy has brought growth and prosperity to the world through lax and woefully weak trade agreements, while we have taxed ourselves," he wrote. It is time for that to change. Now those who had earned from the USA would be burdened. They would "finally pay their fair share".