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Cars, Machinery Drive the German Trade Surplus Trump Hates

  • Thyssenkrupp, Bayer, Siemens get big chunk of sales from U.S.
  • Record German 2016 trade surplus makes country Trump target
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Trump, Merkel Trade Barbs in Post-G-7 Dispute

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German companies from carmaker BMW AG to engineering giant Siemens AG count on the appetite of U.S. customers to drive their sales. President Donald Trump says he has had enough.

Trump lit into Germany again Tuesday, complaining on Twitter about the U.S.’s “MASSIVE trade deficit” with Europe’s largest economy. Last week, meeting with European Union leaders, Trump said Germany is “very bad” for flooding the U.S. with cars. Germany posted a record trade surplus in 2016, and cars were indeed a big reason.