A cargo port in Shandong province, China (Photo: Xinhua/VNA)

Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that top priority should not be to divide the world with new trade barriers.

Tariffs have never been a good idea to resolve trade policy conflicts, said Chairman of the German Christian Democratic Union Friedrich Merz, warning of backlash in the US as rising import costs would fuel inflation and hit American consumers directly.

Dirk Jandura, president of the Federation of German Wholesale, Foreign Trade and Services, described the tariffs as a clear warning to the EU, stressing that neither Germany nor the EU should remain passive.

German companies are also bracing for the impact, as many of them supply goods to the US market from Mexico, particularly in the automotive industry.