Germany is main EU target of Trump tariffs, warns economy minister

MUNICH, Germany — Germany will be the prime European target of U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs once he’s in office, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Saturday.

The warning by Habeck, who is the Green party’s lead candidate in Germany’s Feb. 23 election, came on the same day as a slightly more positive statement by his center-right opponent Friedrich Merz, who called Trump “very predictable.”

Speaking at a Greens election campaign rally in Munich, Habeck said that the EU country “with the biggest trade surplus [with the U.S.] is Germany — and that is a thorn in Donald Trump’s side.”

Although Trump can only impose punitive trade measures against the entire EU, “you can be pretty sure that the tariffs that he might want to impose will be targeted in such a way that they will particularly hit the German economy,” Habeck argued.

In the past, Trump has vented his fury at the European Union for not buying enough American autos or farm produce and is said to have been “obsessed” with the number of German cars on the streets of Manhattan.

Habeck said that the EU was ready to “fight back” against U.S. tariffs, but argued that Germany must do more to strengthen Europe. “No matter what the next German government wants to do, it must do it in a European way,” he said.

Meanwhile, German center-right CDU leader and likely next chancellor Merz argued on Saturday that Trump’s actions would not come as a surprise to Europe.

“I think Donald Trump is very predictable,” Merz said at a press conference at a retreat of European People’s Party (EPP) leadership in Berlin. “He does what he says. In this respect, I think we can expect a lot more clarity in the coming weeks and months.”

Merz added that Trump was forcing the EU to undertake reforms that were due regardless, such as increasing Europe’s defensive capabilities.

“In this respect, this is also an opportunity for us to do the right thing,” Merz said.