“It’s actually a topic that surprised me a little bit, given the intensity with which it was presented,” Merz told reporters before returning Friday evening from his five-day tour of East Asian countries.
Merz admitted that the Franco-German proposal had “raised considerable concern in the region – in Singapore, Japan and Korea – that we could face a new wave of protectionism in Europe and close ourselves off to other countries”.
The chancellor pledged to take the complaints “very seriously” and raise them at the next summit of EU leaders. The bloc’s leaders are expected to gather in Dublin on November 13 for an informal meeting.
Merz proposed a “global political alliance for rules-based trade” between so-called middle powers in his speeches in Seoul and Tokyo. The EU, Asian countries, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the South American trade bloc Mercosur should “coordinate” and “act together” if others challenge international rules “or if economic pressure needs to be brought to bear” – a thinly veiled reference to Chinese threats to restrict access to rare earth metals or US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats.
But the reluctance of South Korea and Japan is a stark reminder of how industry-specific frictions can hamper implementation of the broader alliance proposed by Merz.
Gn world
