Minister Altmaier and Sigrid Kaag, Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade, on the phone to discuss impact of Covid-19 pandemic

Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Peter Altmaier and the Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Sigrid Kaag, spoke on the phone today to discuss measures to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. Their talks focused on the impact Covid-19 is having on international trade and global supply chains. The day before, the G20 Ministers of Trade had agreed on measures and strategies to mitigate the effects.

Said Federal Minister Altmaier: “In Germany we have put forward an unprecedented package to support our businesses. However, Covid-19 is a burden not only on our businesses in Germany, but on global trade as a whole. We must work together in the EU and internationally to ensure that supply chains keep functioning and to reduce the negative impact on trade. This is why, yesterday, the G20 Ministers of Trade agreed on various initial measures to secure global shipments of medical supplies, agricultural produce and other essential goods. At EU level, we must work together to strengthen Europe as a whole – despite the measures that are necessary to combat the coronavirus. What we need in this crisis is more Europe, not less.

Germany is the Netherlands’ most important trading partner by far. The two countries’ bilateral trade volume totalled some €190.40 billion last year. This makes the Netherlands Germany’s second-most important trading partner. The bilateral trade volume in 2019 consisted of €91.71 billion euros worth of exports from Germany and €98.69 billion worth of imports to Germany.