German Auto Lobby Wants Biden to Eliminate U.S. Trade Restrictions

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky

Germany is eager to see the United States abolish trade barriers implemented by President Donald Trump now that it looks like Joe Biden has won the 2020 election. While that could all be undone by the sudden influx of legal actions taken by the Trump campaign as presumptive evidence of election impropriety streams in, Germany would still like to get the ball rolling on trade with the Democrats.

The nation’s automotive industry is petitioning leadership in the U.S. and European Union to align technical/regulatory standards and minimize the existing trade barriers. The German Association of the Automotive Industry (Verband der Automobilindustrie) or VDA has already endorsed the proposal with the lobby group’s president confirming its position in a recent webcast hosted by the Frankfurt business media club ICFW (Internationale Club Frankfurter Wirtschaftsjournalisten).

VDA President Hildegard Müller (who sits on the board of 9 industrial firms) supports both sides abolishing tariffs entirely and believes Biden might be receptive toward reverting trade policies back to how they were before 2016. Considering that the Biden administration has already made announcements that it would immediately overturn numerous executive orders introduced by Trump, it certainly seems possible.

According to Bloomberg, Müller also hinted that Europe would likely need to make changes in order to give the U.S. a fair shake though it was unclear what that would entail beyond nixing the aforementioned tariffs.

Trump has been extremely critical of Europe and Germany in particular for failing to push back against Chinese trade rules he claimed were broadly unfair to the West. He has also been harsh on German imports suggesting he might begin issuing automotive tariffs if economic parity wasn’t achieved in Europe. In response, German automakers promised increased investments into facilities based in the United States. Meanwhile, Germany itself is confronting serious difficulties due to the nation’s extremely high energy and labor costs. VDA said this issue was made worse by German bureaucracy and oversight from the regulation heavy European Commission.

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

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