The United States has overtaken China as Germany's primary trading partner in the first quarter of this year, as per Reuters' analysis of official data from the German statistics office.

Between January and March, Germany's trade with the United States, including both exports and imports, totaled 63 billion euros ($68 billion), while the figure for China was just under 60 billion euros.

In 2023, China held the top position as Germany's trading partner for the eighth consecutive year, with volumes reaching 253 billion euros, just slightly ahead of the U.S.

Vincent Stamer, an economist at Commerzbank, attributed the shift in the first quarter to rising German exports to the U.S. due to its robust economy, coupled with a decline in both exports to and imports from China. He mentioned structural factors, noting that China has moved up the value chain and is producing more complex goods domestically, reducing its imports from Germany. Additionally, German companies are increasingly manufacturing goods locally rather than exporting them to China.

German imports from China decreased by almost 12% year-on-year in the first quarter, while exports to China saw a slight decrease of just over 1%, according to Juergen Matthes from the German economic institute IW. Matthes suggested that the weaker performance of the Chinese economy compared to the U.S. may be a contributing factor.

The U.S. now constitutes approximately 10% of German goods exports, while China's share has fallen to less than 6%, Matthes noted. He observed a potential geopolitical reorientation away from China towards the U.S., driven by global economic challenges and concerns over political differences.

However, the future trajectory remains uncertain. Dirk Jandura, president of the BGA trade association, cautioned that a change in the U.S. administration after the November elections could potentially stall this process if the new administration adopts protectionist policies.

Paraphrasing text from "Reuters" all rights reserved by the original author.