US wins out over China as Germany's biggest single trading partner last year

The United States was Germany's biggest single trading partner last year for the first time since 2015, displacing China from the top spot as exports to the Asian power declined, official figures have revealed.

Trade between the US and Germany, Europe's largest economy, ticked up 0.1% compared with €252.8bn in 2023, Germany's Federal Statistical Office said.

Trade with China, which was Germany's biggest trading partner every year from 2016 to 2023, dropped 3.1% to €246.3bn. The Netherlands took third place with a total trade volume of €205.7bn, a 4.2% drop.

Germany hasn't seen significant economic growth in five years. The country for years expanded exports and dominated world trade in engineered products like industrial machinery and luxury cars.

But it's suffered from increasing competition from Chinese companies, along with many other factors, and the economy contracted in each of the past two years.

Repairing it will be one of the most urgent tasks of the government that emerges from Sunday's German election, which also will have to navigate the trade policy of the new US administration.

Germany's trade surplus with the US grew to €70bn last year from €63.3bn in 2023, the statistics office said. While the value of exports from Germany was up 2.2% at €161.4bn, American imports fell by 3.4% to €91.4bn. The US has been Germany's biggest single export destination since 2015.

Germany saw its trade deficit with China widen, meanwhile. Chinese imports were down 0.3% to €156.3bn, while German exports to China dropped 7.6% to €90bn.

In total, German exports added up to €1.56tn last year, a 1.2% decline compared with 2023. Imports from around the world dropped 3% to €1.32bn.