Germany's trade surplus with US reaches record high as Trump tariffs loom

By Rene Wagner

BERLIN (Reuters) - The German trade surplus with the United States is heading towards a record level just before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump arrives at the White House, an analysis of statistics office data showed.

While the German statistics office published trade data for November on Thursday, Reuters calculations of 11 month figures showed that between January and November German trade surplus with the U.S. exceeded 65 billion euros ($66.95 billion), well above the previous 63.3 billion euro record reported for the full year 2023.

"German exports to the U.S. have developed very well in recent months and are now at a record level," said Jens Suedekum from the Duesseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).

The trend could reverse, however, after Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20, as the Republican has promised to impose tariffs of 10% on global imports, in measures he says would boost U.S. manufacturing.

Last month, he also said European Union countries would face more tariffs unless the bloc stepped up imports of U.S. oil and gas.

"No European country will be as badly affected as Germany," Suedekum said. "He will erect trade barriers and ask German industrial conglomerates, such as car manufacturers, to relocate their production to the USA."

Reuters calculations showed that in the first 11 months of this year, German exports to the United States increased by 2.3% to 149.9 billion euros compared with the same period of 2023, consolidating the U.S. position as the top buyer of goods "Made in Germany".

"This is also a result of the economic boom in the U.S. and the targeted offensive of the Biden administration to re-establish modern industrial production in the U.S.," said Suedekum.

($1 = 0.9709 euros)

(Reporting by Rene Wagner, writing by Maria Martinez, editing by Miranda Murray and Tomasz Janowski)