Germany news
fromwww.dw.com
9 hours agoWhere Germany's economy still excels
Germany's industrial competitiveness is challenged, yet it remains a top economy due to small and medium-sized enterprises.
Germany's industrial companies have cut around 124,100 jobs last year, showing an increasingly negative trend after 56,000 positions were lost the year before, according to an analysis by auditing firm EY. EY said employment in industry has fallen by about 266,200 jobs, or nearly 5%, since the pre-pandemic year of 2019, with the sharpest reductions recorded in the automotive sector.
A fresh round of tariffs on European exports would cost Germany and Europe dearly, the president of the German auto industry association has said, as he called for a smart response coordinated by Brussels. The costs of these additional tariffs would be enormous for German and European industry, especially in these already challenging times, said Hildegard Muller, the president of the VDA trade organisation. What is crucial now is a smart, strategic response from Brussels that is coordinated with the countries affected, she added.