German finance minister says US also needs a swift tariff solution

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FRANKFURT (Reuters) -The United States has a shared interest in finding a rapid solution to the dispute over trade tariffs, German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said on Sunday.

After a period of de-escalation, Trump on Friday reignited tensions, by pushing for a 50% tariff on goods from the 27-nation European Union, starting on June 1.

Germany was the biggest EU exporter to the U.S. last year, sending goods there worth 161 billion euros ($183 billion), according to official figures.

But Klingbeil told German public broadcaster ARD that tariffs endangered the U.S. as well as the German economy.

“We should not feel provoked but focus on what is at stake. We want a joint solution with the U.S…. and I want to say very clearly here that that is also in the interest of the U.S.,” he said in an interview.

“All data from the U.S. concerning the level of the dollar and U.S. bonds show that they also should have an interest to work together with us,” he added.

The White House paused most of the tariffs Trump announced in early April against nearly every country in the world after investors sold off U.S. assets, including government bonds and the U.S. dollar.

Trump left in place a 10% baseline tax on most imports, and later reduced his 145% tax on Chinese goods to 30%.

A 50% levy on EU imports would raise consumer prices in the United States, notably on German cars, pharmaceuticals and machinery.

($1 = 0.8800 euros)

(Reporting by Reinhard Becker in Berlin and Vera Eckert in Frankfurt, editing by Barbara Lewis)