Merkel, BMW Seek Trade Truce in White House Visit

Erdogan’s drive to drum up support among Turks living overseas has deeply strained Ankara’s relations with Berlin and other European capitals concerned about what they see as an increasingly authoritarian tone from Turkey.

One advantage Trump may have in this first meeting is that while he is just starting his term as president after a surprise win, Merkel faces a very tough reelection campaign back home, with voting set for September. Merkel responded by saying, “I think that we Europeans have our destiny in our own hands”.

For Mrs Merkel – who shared such a close relationship with former U.S. president Barack Obama that his last official phone call to a foreign leader was to her – talks with Mr Trump will involve walking a fine diplomatic line.

For months, the two have been testing the countries’ relationship over differences in policy and values.

Conversely, Donald Trump accused Merkel of “ruining Germany” and called her policies “a total disgrace”.

Merkel has served as Germany’s chancellor for more than 11 years.

Indeed Merkel was apparently so distressed by this radical shift in the USA worldview that she took the unusual step of alluding to her concerns in her congratulatory letter to then President-elect Trump. She is reserved, pragmatic and lingers over decisions.

“Face-to-face talks are always much better than talking about each other”, Merkel said recently. But in 2015, she rolled out a welcome mat for a million asylum seekers.

The Trump administration has criticized that WTO rules allow countries with VAT-based tax systems to offer rebates on exports while income-based systems such as the US’s can not do the same.

He tells PBS NewsHour that in the wake of Brexit, which Trump has loudly applauded, Merkel also will stress that “we will do everything to keep the European Union as a strong and resilient economic and political union”. At the time, Merkel spokesman Steffen Seibert said the German leader is “convinced that even the necessary, resolute fight against terrorism doesn’t justify putting people of a particular origin or particular faith under general suspicion”.

Asked if both sides were curious, Merkel said: “There’s definitely curiosity”. In any event, the United States is Germany’s most important export market, and trade imbalances are one more headache for Mrs. Merkel to add to her list of trans-Atlantic challenges with Mr. Trump. “She wanted to make sure nobody was speculating about why she didn’t go see him before these meetings occurred”.

According to the Germans, the two leaders “reaffirmed that they will work together for free trade and open markets”.

For years Merkel – a trained physicist – had been president Barack Obama’s closest worldwide partner, with the two sharing a strong rapport and a similar deliberative approach.

“I would tell BMW that if you are building a factory in Mexico and plan to sell cars to the US, without a 35 percent tax, then you can forget that”, Mr. Trump said in an interview with Bild, Germany’s biggest daily newspaper, shortly before his inauguration.