BERLIN: Germany said on Thursday any escalation of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on metal imports into a full-blown trade war could cause tangible damage to the global recovery, although the tariffs themselves should have only a limited effect.
Trump last week ordered the imposition of duties on incoming steel and aluminum and threatened to levy a tax on European cars if the European Union did not remove “horrific” tariffs and trade barriers on a range of goods.
“The German economic upswing is continuing at the beginning of 2018. The global economic environment is still favourable,” the Economy Ministry said in its monthly report. But it said U.S. trade policies were creating a sense of uncertainty.