No Joke

Published in Frankfurter Allgemeine
(Germany) on 28 May 2019
by Sven Astheimer (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Mallory Matsumoto. Edited by Elizabeth Cosgriff.
The German economy’s trust in the United States is eroding, because of the trade wars, among other factors. Instead, companies are placing their trust more in China, which, as the saying goes, is having the last laugh.

One should be able to afford to joke at the expense of the most powerful man on earth. Ren Zhengfei, in any case, also does not have much more to lose. The technology firm Huawei that he founded has long been declared America’s public enemy No. 1, and his oldest daughter is still being held in Canada on charges of having violated U.S. sanctions against Iran.

So, the Chinese businessman complains in front of rolling cameras about President Donald Trump and calls his tweets laughable. Such words would hardly emerge from the lips of a middle-class German.

As a current poll shows, however, the German economy’s trust in the reliability of America under Trump is declining as never before. It has fallen behind even China − an unfree country with a state-controlled economy in which individual human rights count for little.

Of course, German companies also will not just abandon the biggest market on the planet overnight. But long-term investment decisions will certainly influence this shrinking trust, particularly if Trump is elected to a second term.

Whoever laughs last, laughs best, as the saying goes. But it is very likely that no one will find these trade wars funny in the end.



Das Vertrauen der deutschen Wirtschaft in Amerika erodiert, auch wegen des Handelsstreits. China vertrauen die Unternehmen dagegen mehr – wer zuletzt lacht, sagt der Volksmund.

Witze auf Kosten des mächtigsten Mannes der Erde muss man sich leisten können. Ren Zhengfei hat allerdings auch nicht mehr viel zu verlieren. Der von ihm gegründete Technologiekonzern Huawei ist längst zu Amerikas Staatsfeind Nummer eins im Handelskonflikt auserkoren, und seine älteste Tochter wird immer noch in Kanada festgehalten, weil sie gegen die amerikanischen Iran-Sanktionen verstoßen haben soll.
Also lästert der Chinese vor laufender Kamera über Präsident Donald Trump und nennt dessen Kurznachrichten lächerlich. Solche Worte würden einem deutschen Mittelständler wohl kaum über die Lippen kommen.
Wie eine aktuelle Umfrage aber zeigt, erodiert das Vertrauen der deutschen Wirtschaft in die Verlässlichkeit Amerikas unter Trump in nie gekannter Weise. Es rangiert sogar noch hinter China – einem unfreien Land mit einer gelenkten Staatswirtschaft, in dem individuelle Menschenrechte wenig zählen.
Natürlich werden auch deutsche Unternehmen die größte Volkswirtschaft der Erde deshalb nicht von einem Tag auf den anderen links liegenlassen. Doch langfristige Investitionsentscheidungen wird das schwindende Vertrauen gerade im Falle eines zweiten Wahlsieges von Trump durchaus beeinflussen.
Wer zuletzt lacht, lacht am besten, behauptet der Volksmund. Gut möglich aber, dass diesen Handelskrieg am Ende niemand witzig finden wird.
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