German chancellor proposes eliminating all EU-US trade tariffs

By Anadolu staff

BERLIN (AA) - German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Friday renewed his proposal to eliminate all tariffs between the US and the European Union.

Speaking at a joint news conference with EU Council President Antonio Costa in Brussels, Merz said he discussed potential solutions to ongoing trade disputes with the US during a phone call with President Donald Trump late Thursday.

“I told him that escalating this tariff dispute is not a good idea. The best solution would be bringing tariffs ‘down to zero' for everything,” Merz told reporters, adding that Trump invited him to Washington for further discussions on the matter, which would take place in the near future.

“My impression is that in America, there is now growing awareness about the negative effects of high tariffs on their own economy, and he is certainly aware of this,” Merz said. “Therefore, we will try to find what we can do together. My conviction remains that such a tariff dispute can only harm all of us and ultimately benefit no one.”

During the call, Merz said he congratulated Trump on the successful trade negotiations with the United Kingdom. The chancellor also stressed that the United States must negotiate trade deals with the European Union as a whole, not with individual EU member states.

“This is a good path. However, I also explained to him that this cannot be done with other individual European states that are members of the European Union, because we can and want to act only jointly in trade policy. I had the impression that he accepts this, and that it is also his view that he can only do this together with us,” Merz said.