German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche is due to travel to Washington as EU officials scramble to come up with a solution to avert the additional tariffs on imports from the bloc announced by US President Donald Trump.
Reiche, who is set to be in the US capital until Saturday, is planning to hold talks with Trump administration officials as well as a range of business representatives.
Her visit comes after Germany’s newly-minted conservative chancellor, Friedrich Merz, was received by Trump at the White House earlier this month, and is intended to intensify trans-Atlantic dialogue, according to the German Economy Ministry.
The ministry said Reiche intended specifically “to provide targeted support for the EU negotiations in a sensitive phase,” referring to the trade negotiations that were launched after Trump announced additional levies of 50% on EU imports from July 9.
Since taking office in January, Trump has sown chaos in international trade by imposing a range of tariffs on many of the country’s trading partners in a bid to protect domestic manufacturers.
He has since suspended some measures to allow for trade negotiations, while intermittently ramping up other levies including on steel and aluminium, leaving trading partners bewildered over what’s next.
Merz has said he expects the EU to come to an agreement with the US ahead of the July 9 deadline, but that it may only cover major trade areas including the car industry.
Reiche is liaising closely with the European Commission during her talks, her ministry said.
The EU has said it will implement counter-tariffs if negotiations over a trade deal fail.