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Before Trump meeting, Merkel says trade vital for U.S. and Germany

14 March 2017 02:22 (UTC +04:00)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel underscored the importance of free trade in a speech to business leaders in Munich, before her first trip to meet U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington for talks on a range of issues, including defense spending, APA reports quoting Reuters.

Merkel had been due to meet Trump for more than two hours on Tuesday, but her trip was postponed until Friday because of a severe winter storm bearing down on Washington.

Briefing reporters before the trip, a senior German official said he expected the talks to focus on foreign policy issues ranging from NATO and Russia to Syria, Middle East peace, Iran, North Korea and the European Union.

Talks between German officials and members of Trump's administration suggest the two countries will cooperate closely on policy toward Russia, the official said.

"The United States of America is a key trading partner for Germany and for the entire European Union," Merkel said. "Trade is advantageous for both sides and I'm looking forward to the chance to speak to the newly elected American president about these issues.

"I believe that direct, one-on-one conversations are always much better than talking about each other. Talking together instead about each other - that'll be my slogan for this visit, which I'm really looking forward to."

Trump has called Merkel's decision to allow hundreds of thousands of refugees into Germany a "catastrophic mistake".

He has also threatened to impose tariffs on German carmakers that import into the United States and has criticized Berlin for not spending more on defense. Another source of tension is Germany's 50 billion-euro trade surplus with the United States.

The United States is Germany's biggest export destination , buying German goods and services worth 107 billion euros ($114 billion) last year while exporting just 58 billion euros' worth in return. It is Germany's third-largest trading partner, just behind China and France.

Merkel said German companies employ about 750,000 people in the United States and 1 million to 2 million jobs in the United States depend indirectly on German companies.