It “has to do with the automobile industry, which is the heart of the German industry and many things hinge on that,” he said. Cars were Germany’s main export product last year, accounting for 15.6% of the value of goods sold abroad, federal statistics office data shows.
Germany reported a foreign trade deficit for the first time in decades in May 2022, totaling 1 billion euros ($1.03 billion). The country had briefly shifted from a trade surplus to importing more than it exports.
Germany has since returned to a trade surplus, which came to 18.7 billion euros in June 2023, according to the federal statistics office, but exports remain sluggish.
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One target currently in the sights of the German government is becoming carbon neutral by 2045. These plans came into sharp focus as Europe looked to detach itself from Russian gas supplies following the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and prices shot up.
Some described Germany’s ambitions to move away from Russian gas as “wildly optimistic,” particularly in light of the country’s climate targets.
The Germans closed their nuclear power plants and tried to stop imports of Russian gas, at least through pipes that is. Russian LNG to my information is still making way here.
Germany could lose 2% to 3% of its current industrial capacity as companies move operations to countries where gas and electricity are cheaper, such as the U.S. or Saudi Arabia, according to a research note released in August by Berenberg.
Saudi Arabia, son, Saudi Arabia
But there are growing signs of public disenchantment in the shift to a more sustainable Europe, with a so-called “greenlash” emerging as people feel the cost impacts.
Sinn suggested there would be political ramifications as a result of the focus on sustainability.
“There is a backlash clearly … The population is now moving to the right,” Sinn said, referring to the popularity of the right-leaning Alternative for Germany party, which won a district council election for the first time in June.
“I am not moving to evaluate anything here, but … the policies which were, for ideological reasons, completely overdrawn … Pragmatism is a little bit missing in current policy,” he added.
I don’t get why AFD is considered far right. This is a centre right party…
Insomniac Resurrected 