Japan and Germany Want to Promote WTO Reform

Global free trade is In the face of growing threats, so Germany and Japan are seeking WTO reform, said Angela Merkel. Berlin and Tokyo stand for a multi-polar trade order, explained the German Chancellor. In the face of growing threats to global free trade, Germany and Japan want to work together for a reform of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday in Tokyo. As part of the ongoing Japanese presidency of the Group of 20, reform of the WTO will feature high on the agenda, Merkel said on Tuesday in a discussion with students from Keio University in Tokyo. “And there is a high degree of common ground between Japan and Germany”, she said. According to the Federal Chancellor, the German government is currently closely following the trade conflict between the United States and China, since both of these countries are very large players in global trade. If in China as a result of this conflict consumer demand collapses, Germany and Japan will immediately feel it, because the economies of different countries depend on each other, Merkel explained. For example, in Germany, the automotive industry would suffer, and in Japan, component suppliers for the Chinese technology group Huawei. Therefore, Japan and Germany stand for a multi-polar trade order, said Merkel. Source: DW