On Friday, President Donald Trump will meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. From this meeting may depend on the way relations develop between the United States and the largest economy in Europe. 

Trump accused Merkel's "destruction of Germany" in 2015 after she literally opened the door to their home country for refugees. He repeatedly sent mixed signals about their attitude to the European Union and admired President Vladimir Putin's Russia policy.

His senior economic adviser Peter Navarro criticized the trade surplus of Germany, accusing the country of use "significantly undervalued euro" in order to harm America. 

Merkel, who grew up behind the "iron curtain", most likely , in store for his colleagues from the US is very clear message: "free trade policy works. Do not create new barriers. " 

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the eve of an important meeting, experts identified the main issues on which the key figures in the world economy can not find a consensus:

Trade and jobs

Trump believes that America's trade balance deficit indicates that the country is losing its role in the global economy. The deficit in trade in goods with Germany in 2016 amounted to $ 65 billion. 

The president also said that German exports to countries outside the EU rose by almost 18% in January compared with the same month last year. 

According to a senior adviser to Trump, Ms. Merkel is likely to stress the importance of German companies to the US economy. It is planned to invite to the meeting of heads of companies such as BMW, Siemens and the Schaeffler, to explain the benefits of America's trade relations with Germany and the EU. 

"We have a € 271 billion of direct investment in the United States - said Merkel on Monday. - In the US, created around 750 000 jobs by German companies. If you multiply that by two or three, you will see that more than 2.1 million jobs depend on the German companies. " 

 

NATO defense spending

Trump also going to want to talk about defense spending and NATO. He criticized the European allies of the low defense spending within the alliance. 

Only 5 of the 28 members of NATO spend 2% or more of GDP on defense in 2016. All lagging in this respect powers, including Germany, have pledged to achieve this target by 2024. However, the US president said that the largest economy in Europe can achieve this goal faster. 

"Germany must lead by example", - said the representative of the administration of Trump. 

This can be a problem for Merkel, especially in an election year, when defense spending are unlikely to be a priority for voters.

EU Future

"You look at the European Union, and you know - this is Germany. Basically this unit - a vehicle for Germany, therefore, in my opinion, the United Kingdom did the right thing. " 

This comment Trump in January angered EU leaders, desperately wanting to throw a wave of populism that has threatened the existence of the region. 


Russia and sanctions

European leaders gasped with relief thanks to the strong commitment of Trump NATO after taking office. But they are still not sure what the relationship with Putin, he counts. 

Merkel played a key role in the formulation of a decisive European response to Russia's annexation of Crimea and the destabilization of the situation in the east of Ukraine, including the imposition of economic sanctions. 

Europe is also very concerned that Russia might try to influence the elections in the region this year. 

Based on materials WELTRADE