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German Chancellor Angela Merkel
GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel defended her country’s trade surplus at the weekend, insisting that Berlin is working to encourage domestic demand but that not all factors are under its control.
Her Economy Minister Peter Altmaier flew to Washington today for talks with US President Donald Trump’s administration, which has criticised Germany’s trade surplus.
Chancellor Merkel said domestic demand has been growing, helping narrow the German trade surplus to €244.9 billion (£216bn) in 2017.
Friedrich Merz’s call for a new Plaza Accord ignores how Washington’s 1985 currency ambush destroyed Japan without fixing US deficits — China, a sovereign socialist state with 1.4 billion consumers, cannot be bullied the same way, writes CARLOS MARTINEZ
JENNY CLEGG looks at the key points that defined the China-US relationship, for now
The cancelled China trip of the German Foreign Minister marks a break with Helmut Schmidt’s China policy and drives Germany further into Washington’s confrontation course, warns SEVIM DAGDELEN
