The Business Times

Friedrich Merz

Opinion & Features

Will Germany find a new economic equilibrium with China?

The Asian country’s domestic slowdown amid a volatile global outlook offers a strategic opening for Berlin to rebalance relations with Beijing

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz joins a long list of foreign leaders travelling to China recently trying to improve ties with Beijing.
International

Merz brings big business group to China in bid to improve ties

The German economy has been shedding 10,000 manufacturing jobs a month

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is in China, accompanied by a delegation of 30 firms including top carmakers such as Volkswagen and BMW.
International

Germany’s Merz lands in Beijing hoping to reset ties, as China boasts its massive market

[BEIJING] German Chancellor Friedrich Merz touched down in Beijing on Wednesday hoping to reset bilateral ties, with China pitching itself as a reliable economic partner as Europe struggles to balance...

During Merz’s two-day visit, Germany and India are expected to sign agreements on business cooperation, semiconductor development and defence projects.
International

Merz eyes India business, defence deals in his first Asia trip

Both nations also aim to deepen cooperation in the pharmaceuticals sector and between defence companies

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said their cabinets would talk about the Ukraine war “in light of the fact that there will obviously not be a meeting between President Zelensky and President Putin, unlike what was agreed between President Trump and President Putin last week when we were together in Washington”.
International

Merz says ‘obvious’ Putin-Zelensky meet won’t happen

GERMAN Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday it was now “obvious” that a hoped-for meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky would not happen.

Germany's chancellor Friedrich Merz said he was particularly relieved for the country's car industry, which before Sunday’s accord was facing tariffs of 27.5 per cent.
International

Germany’s Merz welcomes EU trade deal with US

[BERLIN] German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Sunday welcomed the trade deal between the United States and the European Union, which he said avoided “needless escalation in transatlantic trade relation...

Germany's newly elected Chancellor and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz (second from left) receives applause after the second round of voting at the Bundestag in Berlin.
Global Enterprise

Germany’s Merz elected chancellor after surprise first-round loss

His eventual victory was bittersweet as the initial defeat pointed to rumblings of discontent within his uneasy coalition

Perhaps the biggest reason why some voters appear to have already begun turning against Merz is the historic decision last month by legislators to dilute Germany’s constitutional balanced budget amendment, or debt brake.
Opinion & Features
COMMENTARY

Incoming German chancellor Merz, soon to be Europe’s most powerful leader, limps to start line

Modern politics can be brutally unforgiving for incumbent politicians. Yet, for incoming German chancellor Friedrich Merz, who may soon become Europe’s most powerful politician, his popularity is plum...

Friedrich Merz, Germany's chancellor-in-waiting and leader of the Christian Democratic Union party, plans to have defence spending exempted from the country’s debt brake once it exceeds one per cent of GDP - or 45 billion euros (S$64 billion) when applied to the current size of Germany’s economy.
International

Germany’s Merz vows billions for defence, economy

GERMANY’S likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Tuesday that his centre-right CDU/CSU and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) would propose an unprecedented package of billions of euros in ...

Friedrich Merz's top priority will be to rejuvenate the German economy, which has shrunk for two consecutive years – a double year of stagnation for only the third time since the 1950s.
Opinion & Features

Merz in pole position after big German ballot

The Christian Democratic Union leader is almost certainly next chancellor, and is likely to seek out the Social Democrats as a core coalition partner

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