Germany fears punitive U.S. trade tariffs

Germany’s current account surplus is forecast to hit a record $310 billion in 2016, likely provoking the ire of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump. The U.S. is the world’s largest consumer of German exports

China Japan Germany United States Balance as share of gross domestic product 00%

Current account balance* (US$ billions)

-800-700-600-500-400-300-200-100 0 100 200 300 400 500
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Trump has accused China of destroying U.S. jobs with its exports and has threatened punitive tariffs in retaliation

-$33.8bn 1.7% -$410.8bn 3.9% -$806.7bn 6.5% $420.6bn 9.2% $310bn 8.9%

U.S. had trade deficits with 101 countries in 2015

$260bn $170bn -$117bn

*Current account balance is made up of four components: trade in goods, trade in services, transfer payments and foreign-income payments

Sources: International Monetary Fund, Ifo institute, Stephen S. Roach