When you move around China, the US is coming. That was a message on Wednesday that the new figures showed Germany's biggest single trading partner was in the US for the first time since 2015.
AP Report Trade between the US and Germany, where Europe has the largest economy, rose 0.1% compared to $264.3 billion in 2023, according to the German Federal Statistics Office.
Trade with China, Germany's largest trading partner, every year from 2016 to 2023, fell 3.1% to 246.3 billion euros.
The Netherlands came in third, with total trade volume down 4.2%, at 205.7 billion euros.
The AP report points out that Germany has not seen significant economic growth in five years. For years, the country expanded exports and controlled global trade in engineered products such as industrial machinery and luxury vehicles.
However, along with many other factors, they are struggling with increasing competition with Chinese companies.
In total, Germany's exports reached 1.56 trillion euros last year, down 1.2% compared to 2023. Imports from around the world fell by 3% to 1.32 billion euros.
Germany, Europe's largest economy, was the only G7 country to announce a contraction for the second year in a row last year.
