German industry considers Trump and Brexit key risks to economy

On Wednesday, Germany's major industry group told that the UK’s departure from the European bloc as well as trade clashes provoked by Trump's 'America First' policy should be regarded as the most serious risks to surge and prosperity.

The German economy, which appears to be the largest in the EU, is anticipated to report its weakest surge rate for many years this year because exporters are experiencing headwinds from abroad. However, vibrant domestic demand suggests that a lot of businesses are still capable of expanding their activities.

In a Reuters poll, the heads of Germany's key industry associations told that they didn’t see the German economy entering a meltdown and that most estimates were foreseeing a firm surge rate of nearly 1.5% for next year.

However, the industry associations told that the economic woes of company executives were heading north and the Cabinet needs to do its best to help them. They expect the government to lower corporate taxes and invest more in digital infrastructure.

Some of them are assured that Brexit appears to be the key risk in the short term.

If the United Kingdom left the European bloc in March without any consultation on its future relations with the EU, it would generate huge uncertainties for business and trade, as they pointed out.

The UK economy would experience the direct threat of a downtime that would indirectly impact the German economy.

German companies are still concerned about America slapping higher import levies on European vehicles.

On the other hand, experts appreciate that both sides ramped up their efforts to come up with an effective solution to the trade dispute via talks, which ideally would result in lower duties.

In 2018, the German economy soared by 1.5% in contrast with last year’s 2.2%.

germany europe geopolitics