Last year, the United States surpassed China, which had been Germany's leading trading partner from 2016 to 2023. However, since the beginning of this year, exports of German products to the U.S. have fallen due to Trump's tariff policy.
In the context of the trade war with the United States, Chinese companies significantly increased their supplies to the German market, offering goods at lower prices than in the previous year. Experts from the Institute of German Economy (IW) in Cologne point to potential dumping and urge the European Union to more actively use countervailing duties to restore fair competition conditions.
According to IW, the German automotive industry has suffered the most from the increase in Chinese imports: in the first half of the year, imports of hybrid cars from China rose by more than 130%.
On April 2, the White House introduced a new tariff system on imports, setting a base rate of 10% on all goods. For several countries, including China (34%), Vietnam (46%), and the European Union (20%), the rates were significantly higher.
On April 9, Trump suspended the new tariffs for 75 countries for 90 days, after which the terms and rates of the tariffs were repeatedly revised during negotiations with heads of state.
