00:00Minister Habeck, while you were on stage, President Donald Trump assumed office once
00:04again in the United States.
00:06How distracted is Germany at this moment of drastic upheaval?
00:12It is.
00:13Despite all the annoyance of the last coalition we are leaving behind, it is extremely inconvenient
00:18that Germany is so preoccupied with itself.
00:22With an election campaign and no budget, we also see instability in France.
00:27Austria has no government with maybe worse things to come.
00:31The Belgians have problems and the Dutch are fighting among themselves.
00:37This is not a good time for Europe to be preoccupied with itself.
00:41Because Trump won't wait, he'll just push forward.
00:43The Chinese won't wait, the world won't wait for us.
00:46So we need to find a way to quickly end this troubled phase and represent Europe as strong
00:50and united.
00:52Germany is sliding ever deeper into recession.
00:55You say Germany needs growth to stabilize this society, yet people fear tariffs from
01:00the US.
01:01How much do you need Donald Trump to be able to produce growth here?
01:07Donald Trump and his protectionist policies could once again delay or hamper Germany's
01:11economic recovery.
01:13We are an export nation.
01:14We have slightly more than 80 million citizens and we are the third largest economy in the
01:19world.
01:20How do we manage that?
01:21We sell our goods all over the world.
01:23So to believe that the concept of German products for Germans with German money, as the AFD
01:28likes to tell us, is just complete nonsense.
01:30Now we see that the world is increasingly withdrawing into its separate spheres of influence.
01:35China is entering the market very aggressively and no longer buys everything we produce.
01:40And the USA is starting to protect its domestic market.
01:44This is a very big challenge for Germany.
01:46We must and can respond to this by negotiating new trade agreements, for example with Mercosur
01:51countries.
01:52At the same time, Europe must make it clear to the Americans that a tariff dispute, a
01:57tariff war even, would harm all of us.
02:01That is the lesson Donald Trump is teaching us.
02:04Europe must stand united.
02:06And Germany must play its part in that.
02:09Well, the question is how you're going to do that.
02:15You yourself warn that one should stop pandering to the likes of Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
02:19How do you intend to create the stability and the growth while preventing an economic
02:23clash?
02:27Europe is prepared.
02:28If the Americans impose tariffs, which I hope they won't, Europe would be able to take countermeasures
02:34that would affect the American economy, including in the consumer sector.
02:38But that is the wrong way.
02:39Nobody wants tariffs.
02:41I am just saying that Europe must prepare for an arm-wrestle with the Americans in the
02:45hope that we can avoid it.
02:47Above all, Europe must do its own homework.
02:50And Germany too, as part of Europe.
02:55We have to invest more into our own country.
02:58For decades we have opted for run-down infrastructure, lack of innovative strength.
03:03That is why we have to significantly improve tax incentives, research budgets and create
03:09a more competitive environment for growth, so the economy can grow, but also so that
03:16we produce the technologies of the future here in Europe.
03:20We should be thinking along the lines.
03:22The next Google has to come from Europe.
03:25Robert Habeck, Vice-Chancellor and candidate for Chancellor of the Green Party, thank you
03:29very much.
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