BERLIN (Reuters) – The United States is set to overtake China as Germany’s most important trade partner by 2025 at the latest if current trends continue, according to the head of foreign trade at the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK).
German exports and imports to China together totalled around 253 billion euros ($272 billion) last year, according to calculations by Reuters based on preliminary data from the Federal Statistics Office.
That means China would remain the number one trade partner of Europe’s largest economy for the eighth consecutive year, but only by a hair: Trade volume with the U.S. was tallied at 252.3 billion euros.
Continuing growth in German exports to the U.S. is the main reason for the latter’s ascendance, with goods worth almost 158 billion euros sent across the Atlantic last year, increasing the U.S. share of Germany’s total exports to around 10%.
“At the moment there are no signs of a significant increase in demand for products made in Germany from China,” the DIHK’s Volker Treier told Reuters in emailed comments.
Deliveries to China fell by almost 9% to roughly 97 billion euros, with cars and chemical products particularly down, while imports fell by almost a fifth, to just under 156 billion euros.
German leaders have warned companies of the risks of relying too heavily on China and urged them to diversify their business away from what they refer to as the “partner, competitor and systemic rival”.
Since 2015, the United States has been the most important export market for the German economy, which has made enormous direct investments there.
“The economy in the U.S. is currently doing significantly better than in many other important sales markets for the German economy, such as the countries in the EU,” said Treier.
“Ultimately, German exports also benefit from the strength and attractiveness of the U.S. economy.”
($1 = 0.9289 euros)
(Reporting by Rene Wagner; Writing by Miranda Murray; Editing by Rachel More and Mark Heinrich)
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