Trump calls Germans ‘bad’ on trade at G7 meetings

TAORMINA, ITALY — President Donald Trump has criticized Germany’s trade surplus with the United States, drawing attention to a contentious issue at a summit of world leaders where trade is already a sticking point.

As the leaders of seven wealthy democracies gathered for difficult talks on trade and climate change, Germany’s Der Spiegel reported that Trump had told EU leaders the day before that the Germans were “bad, very bad” when it came to trade.

White House economic adviser Gary Cohn said the president’s comments focused on the surplus and not the country: “He said they’re very bad on trade, but he doesn’t have a problem with Germany.”

Cohn noted that “his dad is from Germany” and that he had said: “’I don’t have a problem with Germany. I have a problem with German trade.”

The president of the European Union’s executive commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, said Trump was “not aggressive” in his comments about the surplus and called the report “exaggerated.”

In January, Trump said that German car manufacturers could face U.S. tariffs of up to 35 per cent if they set up plants in Mexico instead of in the U.S. and try to export the cars to the U.S. Trump has said he wants trade to be balanced, fair and free so it benefits U.S. workers and companies. He has focused on relationships in which the U.S. buys more than it sells.

Merkel said Friday that it’s well known Germany sells more to the U.S. than it buys, “which on the one hand has to do with the quality of our goods.”