German Trade Surplus Widens

Germany’s trade surplus grew in June, official figures showed Tuesday, while saber rattling continues in Washington and Brussels over possible US protectionist moves. AFP reported. Europe’s largest economy exported €21.2 billion ($25 billion) worth of goods more than it imported in June, the federal statistics authority, Destatis, calculated in figures adjusted for seasonal and calendar effects. In absolute terms, the amount of goods sold abroad amounted to €104.9 billion in June, a drop of 2.8% from the figure for May, while the total amount of goods bought from abroad totaled €83.7 billion, down 4.5% on the month. Germany increased both its imports from and its exports to the EU in June, but while its imports from the rest of the world grew strongly, exports shrank slightly. The drop in exports was “disappointing”, analyst Carsten Brzeski of ING Diba bank said, although he noted that increased trade from fellow EU members slightly offset the fall in exports to Britain.