One of the reasons for Angela Merkel’s strong political position in Germany is that the combination of Germany’s longstanding industrial strength and the euro – which trades internationally well below where a Deutsche Mark would trade – has enabled Germany to export its way out of its economic problems. Peter Navarro, Donald Trump's chief trade adviser, saysPeter Navarro, the head of President Trump's new National Trade Council, isNavarro is being quoted by the Financial Times as calling the euro an "implicit Deutsche Mark" whoseis giving Germany anagainst its competitors - including the US. Navarro, an economist who serves as the head of Trump's National Trade Council, is also a harsh critic of China's trade policies, which he blames for a loss of manufacturing jobs in the U.S.

Germany runs a massive trade surplus, exporting far more goods than it imports. He told the FT: “A big obstacle to viewing TTIP as a bilateral deal is Germany, which continues to exploit other countries in the EU as well as the US with an ‘implicit Deutsche Mark’ that is grossly undervalued.”

“The German structural imbalance in trade with the rest of the EU and the US underscores the economic heterogeneity [diversity] within the EU — ergo, this is a multilateral deal in bilateral dress,” he said. — Reuters picSTOCKHOLM, Jan 31 — Chancellor Angela Merkel today rejected a US trade adviser’s charge that Germany was using an “undervalued” euro to gain advantage, saying her government had always called on the European Central Bank to pursue an independent policy. "Germany is a country that has always called for the European Central Bank to pursue an independent policy, just as the Bundesbank did before the euro existed," Merkel told a news conference in Stockholm with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven.
White House National Trade Council director Peter Navarro says Germany exploits other countries with a "grossly undervalued" euro. German Chancellor Angela Merkel rejects the allegation.