German Trade Surplus with the U.S. Set to Reach Record High

By Rene Wagner

BERLIN (Reuters) – The German trade surplus with the United States is approaching a record level just before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office, according to an analysis of statistics office data.

The German statistics office released trade figures for November on Thursday, and Reuters’ calculations for the first 11 months of 2023 indicate that the German trade surplus with the U.S. exceeded 65 billion euros ($66.95 billion). This surpasses the prior record of 63.3 billion euros reported for the entire year of 2023.

“German exports to the U.S. have developed very well in recent months and are now at a record level,” stated Jens Suedekum from the Duesseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).

However, this trend may change after Trump’s inauguration on January 20, as he has promised to impose 10% tariffs on global imports to boost U.S. manufacturing. Last month, he indicated that EU countries could also face higher tariffs unless they increased their imports of U.S. oil and gas.

“No European country will be as badly affected as Germany,” Suedekum warned. “He will erect trade barriers and ask German industrial conglomerates, such as car manufacturers, to relocate their production to the USA.”

Reuters calculations showed that during the first 11 months of this year, German exports to the U.S. rose by 2.3% to 149.9 billion euros compared to the same period in 2022, solidifying the U.S. as the largest buyer of goods “Made in Germany.”

“This is also a result of the economic boom in the U.S. and the targeted offensive of the Biden administration to re-establish modern industrial production in the U.S.,” added Suedekum.

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