Posted on 06/12/2018 10:29:23 PM PDT by Olog-hai
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday struck back at US President Donald Trump’s repeated complaints over the US trade deficit.
Merkel pointed out the United States actually runs a significant account surplus with Europe if one factors services into the equation.
She went on to say that the current accounting systems for global trade needed to be updated to also take services into account.
“Trade surpluses are calculated in a relatively old-fashioned way nowadays,” she told an audience of businessmen at the Christian Democratic Union’s Economic Council Conference in Berlin. “If services are included in the trade balance, then the US runs a big surplus with Europe. And the share of services will only grow.” […]
According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the US goods and services trade deficit with the EU was $92 billion (€78 billion) in 2016. The US goods trade deficit was $137 billion, while it ran a services trade surplus of $55 billion. …
(Excerpt) Read more at dw.com ...
Angela can go play on the autobahn.
Then she won’t mind Pony not to pay her fair share for NATO
Let the negotiations begin. That’s what it means to me.
On business knowledge...she’s a virtual zero. In any meeting with Trump, she’s completely handicapped and unable to logically argue with the guy as she’d typically do with migrants, EU stuff, and such. I think this is a pretty lousy topic to open up.
I don't think ANYONE in the media understands this. I don't, and I think the majority of people don't either. To most of us, it's a comment unworthy of scrutiny and it has now passed.
These companies have made the world market infinitely more complex. All the other countries want their cut of the pie in terms of taxes, licenses and fees. And of course employees.
The U.S was making money hand over fist from companies based in the U.S doing business with other than U.S buyers. They rushed and started demanding taxes. Manufacturers of durable goods where compelled to establish european factories.
The U.S could have sucked the world dry during the internet boom of the 90’s.
I’m pretty sure the services Merkel is talking about include lobbyists, lawyers, bankers and tax consultant.
What Trump is doing is forcing the hands of those that have benefited for so long from our high government imposed costs of business. Were he a dictator he could decree that those costs all evaporate tomorrow and America's economy would shoot straight up. But, of course, were he a dictator there would be other problems that would not be so good.
The tariffs added to Canadian imports and Mexican imports are charges on mostly Chinese steel and aluminum that is routed through our neighbors to evade controls aimed directly at China. The profit to Canadian and Mexican businesses of this pass-along trade is the amount of the pass-through charges that they collect, not production.
Trump is not pushing an old fashioned Mercantilist trade war buy is pushing those countries that maintain high tariffs on American goods while subsidizing their own industry to rationalize their own commerce toward actual free trade. We are the most competitive economy in the world were there no or evenly distributed taxes(subsidies are actually negative taxes) and regulation costs.
Actually Ford is #5 in Germany and the highest non-German manufacturer...:^)
Broomhilda has figured out that North Korea is set to become a major US trading partner, leaving Germany and the rest of the EU in the dust.
Services aren’t a measure of wealth creation, iirc. Creation of wealth is most important, and how it is measured and tracked.
A German chancellor distorting statistics and accusing the U.S. of wrongdoing... well, there is a first time for everything.
It's a new economy. How do you not include services when computing trade balances? Revenue is revenue regardless of whether it comes from selling a Ford or billing from an accountant. I've seen some new trade analysis now that also takes into account the sales of a country's business subsidiaries in foreign countries
What services?
And there are no tariffs on services..they are reciprocal.
So this is horsecrap... again.
Can’t wait til PDJT gets some rest and responds to this foolishness.
Ummmm, no. To become a major trading partner, one needs infrastructure, goods and services to sell, and the ability to buy significant amounts of goods and services. North Korea is a long way away from all of those.
At $40bn/yr, North Korea (pop 25m) has the GDP of Trinidad (pop 1.3m) or Botswana (pop 2m) or Wyoming (pop 500k). When you're only 1/12 as productive per person as Botswana... or 1/50 as productive per person as Wyoming... you're not going to be a major trading partner for anyone.
The Cleveland metropolitan region (pop 2m) has a GDP of $120b... If Cleveland does 3 times as much with 1/12 the population... 36 times more productive per person... you're not going to be a major anything for a long time.
Ummmm, no. To become a major trading partner, one needs infrastructure, goods and services to sell, and the ability to buy significant amounts of goods and services. North Korea is a long way away from all of those.
LOL. You are such a tight a$$ you can't even recognize sarcasm....
How about we add in other services. Such in a permanent army? How much does the security we provide Germany cost each year?
There is one simple answer to Germany’s double-dealing which needs to be implemented immediately:
A MASSIVE import tariff on automobiles. Let’s get on that Trump Administration!
Boom Yeow! Trump will make mincemeat of that Scowl Monger!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.