Germany’s new leader Friedrich Merz said this week's trade deal between Britain and the U.S. was a positive step — but reminded Donald Trump such a pact would be impossible to negotiate with individual EU countries, Politico reports.
“I congratulated the U.S. president on the agreement he has reached with the United Kingdom yesterday," Merz said at a press conference with European Council President António Costa during a whistlestop tour of Brussels on Friday. "That is a good way forward.”
Merz said he spoke by phone with Trump late Thursday.
London and Washington inked an agreement this week to lift some of Trump’s tariffs and expand reciprocal market access. Trump said the “historic” deal, which is the first with another country since he announced a barrage of global tariffs last month, would bring the U.K. into "economic security alignment" with the U.S.
But Merz, who was sworn in as German chancellor this week, cautioned that it is “not possible to do that with individual EU member states because we only negotiate trade together.”
“My impression is that he [Trump] accepted that, so he knows now he can only negotiate with us together,” he added.
