00:00This kind of precision work is just one of the strengths of the German Mittelstand.
00:07Mid-sized companies like this manufacturer in Görmansheim on the Rhine River.
00:12The heating system maker's 200 employees generate an annual revenue of 20 million euros.
00:21We currently export around 20% of our systems to the US.
00:26We expect that share to rise in future because the market there is enormous and is growing.
00:32But that could change if Donald Trump wins this year's presidential elections.
00:38Washington could raise tariffs by at least 10%. That's what Trump has said.
00:43Right now they are between 2 and 4 percent, depending on the product.
00:49Our modules cost between 200 and 300 thousand euro.
00:5510% on top would simply make it too expensive.
00:58We would practically be left sitting on the products made for the American market.
01:03Similarly, higher tariffs would hit many German companies hard.
01:08The German Economic Institute estimates that Trump's policies could cost Germany's economy up to 150 million euros within four years.
01:17But it doesn't have to come to that, says the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany.
01:24Tariffs are tricky because they are usually followed by a countermeasure.
01:31And then we could end up in a spiral, which of course would weaken trade relations.
01:38A trade war wouldn't serve US or EU interests.
01:42That's why German metalworkers are taking a wait-and-see approach.
01:45Just like the Cologne-based family-owned business Alfred H. Schütte.
01:49The machines tools manufacturer has been through good and bad times in its history of 150 plus years.
01:55Should trade barriers take effect, be it under Biden, Trump or whomever, there is not much we can prepare for.
02:05We can only look at the situation and try to respond as flexibly as possible.
02:11German companies need clarity on tariffs.
02:15Any uncertainty now will likely delay major German investments until after the US presidential elections.
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