BERLIN, Germany – February 24: German Green Party’s prime minister candidate Robert Hebeck speaks to the media the day after the German parliamentary elections in Berlin, Germany on February 24, 2025. The Greens came in fourth with 11.6% of the vote, down 2.9% from the previous election. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
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US President Donald Trump will change his tariff policy by saying that if Europe is together they will “sweep under pressure,” German economy minister Robert Habeck said Thursday.
“That’s what I see. Donald Trump succumbs under pressure. He will revise his announcement under pressure, but the logical result is that he needs to feel the pressure,” he said at a press conference, according to a CNBC translation.
“And this pressure will need to be deployed from Germany to Europe in alliances with other countries, then we’ll see who this arm’s strong fighting is,” Habeck said.
Allowing Trump to remain or try to appease him is not a successful strategy under any circumstances, he added, noting that the response should be a “day of resolution.”
Strategically, the goal should be to avoid tariffs and trade wars, but the problem was how to get there, the economy minister said.
Habeck has also urged strategic investments to become more independent by improving cloud infrastructure and expanding artificial intelligence and space capabilities.
“We can’t rely on everyone who is just friendly with us anymore,” he said. He pointed out that after the start of the Russian-Ukraine War, relying on Russian energy, when the German economy was hit badly, he learned lessons in difficult ways.
Germany “paid a high price for this blindness due to this economic and energy policy blindness,” and it should not repeat itself in “every other area,” Habeck said, suggesting that this is the next government challenge.
“There’s not much thought through the decision.”
Elsewhere, German Prime Minister Olaf Scholz said he believes Trump’s latest tariff decision is “fundamentally wrong,” according to a CNBC translation.
The measure is an attack on the global trade order, Scholz said, and “inadequate thinking through decisions” will lead to the global economy suffering. The US administration is on a path that leads to losers, he added.
On Wednesday, Trump imposed a 20% tax on the European Union, including Germany, the bloc’s leading figure.
Germany is widely regarded as one of the countries most likely to be affected by Trump’s tariffs, given its high economic dependence on trade.
The US is Germany’s most important trading partner ahead of China, with trade sales rates (total of exports and imports) equivalent to 252.8 billion euros ($278.7 billion) in 2024, according to German statistics firm Destatis. Last year, the US was also the recipient of the largest percentage of German exports.
German index Dachshund London time fell by 1.6% by 10:42am, but German government bonds fell sharply. Though the 10-year residue was over 2.648%, above 7 basis points, Two years outside The yield exceeded 11 basis points to 1.93%.
EU preparation measures
Additionally, in response to the development of the White House, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the European Union is preparing measures to combat the latest tariffs from US President Donald Trump if negotiations fail.
“We’re ready to respond,” she said. “We are preparing further measures to protect our profits and business if negotiations fail.”
However, Von Der Leyen called for a shift from conflict to negotiation, suggesting that talks between the EU and the US were not too late.
German Skolts repeated a call for cooperation on Thursday, suggesting that Europe would defend its interests.
“Europe will be united, strong and will respond in proportion to the decisions of the United States,” he said.
