German minister: Services must be considered in tariff row with US

Alsharq Tribune- Zainab Hussin 

The European Union wants to include services in the tariff dispute with the United States to persuade US President Donald Trump to relent, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on Sunday.

"We want to focus not only on the exchange of goods and products but also on services. And if you look at the whole spectrum, then the exchange between the United States of America and the European Union is quite balanced," Wadephul explained on German public broadcaster ZDF. "And if you take that into account, I believe we have good conditions to reach a reasonable conclusion."

The chairman of the Trade Committee in the European Parliament, Bernd Lange, had also hinted at this. The EU has a trade deficit with the US in services, Lange pointed out. This is mainly due to the high demand in Europe for the offerings of US digital companies like Google and Meta.

Trump justifies his tariff policy by stating that the US has a trade deficit in goods with the EU. Trump recently also announced a doubling of tariffs on aluminium and steel imports to 50%. A spokesman for the European Commission threatened countermeasures over the weekend.