US set to overtake China as Germany’s top trade partner – data

The US is on track to surpass China as Germany’s leading trade partner as soon as next year, Reuters reported this week, citing the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK). China has held the top spot for the past seven years.   

German exports and imports to China together amounted to around €253 billion ($272 billion) last year, while the corresponding figure for the US was €252.3 billion ($271.9 billion), preliminary data from the German Federal Statistics Office showed.   

If the current trend persists the US will likely eclipse China as Germany’s top trade partner next year, according to DIHK.  

“At the moment there are no signs of a significant increase in demand for products made in Germany from China,” DIHK’s chief executive for foreign trade, Volker Treier, said.  

“The US economy is currently doing significantly better than in many other important sales markets for Germany, such as the countries in the EU,” he added.  

Meanwhile, German exports to the US are on the rise. In 2023, goods worth almost €158 billion ($170.2 billion) were sent across the Atlantic, boosting the share of the US in Germany’s total exports to around 10%, the outlet said.  

German exports to China dropped by almost 9% to roughly €97 billion ($104.5 billion) in 2023, as automobiles and chemical products posted a particularly noticeable decline. Imports from China, meanwhile, slumped by almost a fifth, to just under €156 billion ($168 billion) last year, the statistics showed.

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