What a Trump election means for the German economy

Article by Carsten Klude

If the US elections were held in Germany, the result would probably be clear: Kamala Harris would win the election and become the new US president. This is because Donald Trump's rhetoric and his way of doing politics does not go down well with us (and in many other countries). But politics is not a concert of wishes, especially not when the decisions are made elsewhere. For the export-dependent German economy in particular, Donald Trump's re-election would be bad news. This is because one of Trump's clearly formulated political ideas is to promise Americans low taxes on the one hand, which he wants to finance with higher tariffs on the other. He recently said that ‘tariff’ is the most beautiful word in the dictionary, apart from ‘faith’ or ‘love’, and he seems to be consistent in this belief. We should therefore take seriously his campaign promise to impose a flat tariff of 10 or 20 percent on all goods imported into the USA