Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier (CDU) traveled to the USA on Wednesday as the first Federal Minister since US President Joe Biden took office. Before taking off from Berlin, Altmaier said it was a “visit to friends”. The planned talks are primarily about climate protection, jobs and trade policy.
It is also about the “restart of the transatlantic relationship,” as Altmaier said. Germany is ready to cooperate: “The American government has an outstretched hand, and we will take this hand.”
During his three-day visit to Washington, the Secretary of Commerce will meet, among others, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and US Special Envoy for Climate Change John Kerry.
Altmaier said he was bringing a “small package for climate protection”; the Bundestag will tighten the climate protection measures in Germany this week, the country will be “climate neutral” earlier. The government is providing eight billion euros in additional fresh money for climate protection measures; A large part of this should go into building energy measures in order to reduce heating costs for the citizens.
The fact that he would be the first federal minister to travel to the USA “was not planned,” said Altmaier. The reason is that Kerry is only available for talks in Washington on Thursday. “I would like to use that”, “a lot is in motion” in climate policy.
In trade policy it is a matter of being able to “step by step” resolve “accumulated conflicts” from the reign of US President Donald Trump. With the defusing of the conflict over the aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing, a first good compromise has been reached, said Altmaier.
When US President Biden visited Brussels at the beginning of last week, both sides pledged to waive punitive tariffs for five years. “With me it is important to clear all other points,” said Altmaier.
Trump also imposed billions in punitive tariffs on steel and aluminum from Europe in June 2018. After its replacement by Biden, the Europeans decided not to impose further counter-tariffs worth billions on US goods from June 1, in order to create space for negotiations. Altmaier said there would be no big deals so shortly before the summer break – “we are preparing the way now” for agreements that will hopefully be reached in the coming months.
The Greens called on Altmaier “at least at the end of his term of office to set an example and to promote climate protection and fair trade” during his US visit. The economic policy spokeswoman for the Greens in the Bundestag, Katharina Dröge, accused Altmaier of having been on the brakes “during his entire term of office” on these issues. “Time and again he has blocked a sustainable trade policy and strong climate and social standards in trade agreements at European level.”
At Altmaier’s trip, the dispute over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline will also be on the agenda. He will discuss the topic – “among friends,” stressed the Minister of Economics on Wednesday.
The USA are firmly against the completion of the Baltic Sea pipeline, which is intended to bring Russian natural gas to Germany on a much larger scale than before. In Berlin, Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) and his US colleague Antony Blinken declared that the dispute should be settled by August if possible.
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