Customs war threatens: Trump quits massive tariffs - economy on the brink!

Customs war threatens: Trump quits massive tariffs - economy on the brink!

Washington, D.C., USA - The White House today rejected speculation about the suspension of the US tariffs. A government representative described the rumors as "fake news". This speculation led to a significant sensation and full fluctuations on the stock exchanges. The trigger of the discussion was a contribution by the hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman on X (formerly Twitter), which proposed a 90-day break for the tariffs. Ackman argued that such a break was necessary to negotiate "unfair, asymmetrical trade agreements" and thus bring new investments to the USA.

particularly worrying is Ackman's warning that the introduction of new tariffs on April 9, which affect almost all countries, was referred to as the "economic nuclear war". This would not only lead to a standstill of investments, but also seriously damage the US reputation as a reliable trading partner. This would be particularly affected by consumers, of whom many supporters are President Trump.

planned tariffs and their effects

For April 9, US President Donald Trump announced the world's applicable tariffs that will be at least 10 % for everyone. The announced regulation, which provides for tariffs of 20 % for the EU, is particularly serious. Despite these new tariffs, some goods such as copper, medicines, semiconductors, wood, gold and certain minerals are excluded from these measures. The low-threshold tariff of 25 %, which has been in place for steel and aluminum imports since March 12, and recently for cars, underlines the seriousness of the situation.

The participants of the markets are concerned: Borders worldwide react negatively to the customs announcements, and the DAX fell by over 500 points (approx. 2 %). In particular, the shares of European shipping and logistics companies as well as Apple experienced significant declines. At the same time, the euro experienced an upward moment compared to the US dollar and reached the highest level in over six months.

consequences for the German export industry

The USA is the most important buyer of German exports, with an estimated trading volume of 161 billion euros in 2024, which corresponds to about 10 % of all exports. It is estimated that up to 80 % of these German exports could be documented with tariffs, which could lead to a decline in exports by around 20 %. The auto industry, the pharmaceutical industry, machine manufacturer and the chemical industry would be particularly affected.

economists expect these developments to lead to a decline in German GDP by 0.3 %, whereby long -term damage could be up to 200 billion euros. In the middle of all of these uncertainties, the experts are disagreed with the effects of the new tariffs on inflation in Germany.

In the EU, negotiations and countermeasures are already planned, including the restoration of special tariffs on US products. Furthermore, additional counter-tariffs and taxes on digital services from US companies are discussed. Experts urgently advise the German federal government to promote infrastructure investments in order to support domestic demand and to counter the negative effects of tariffs.