Tag Archives: Exports

Trash Pandamonium!

June 20, 2025 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

A raccoon’s home is his Kassel.

Try putting a tarriff on this American export, Europe.

Rampaging raccoons: how the American mammals took over a German city – and are heading across Europe – Many in Kassel have embraced the animal but the EU classes it as an invasive species and ecologists are divided about what to do next.

In Kassel, everyone has a story about raccoons. Some struggle with a family of them that moved into their roof and simply will not leave. Others recount how a picnic in the park turned into an ambush as gangs of the black and white animals, known in Germany as Waschbären, raided the food. Almost everyone seems to have a neighbour who feeds them, to the annoyance of the entire street.

German of the day: Umgehen

May 8, 2025 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means to circumvent.

Punitive tariffs: Audi apparently plans production in the USA – According to media reports, Audi is planning to build cars in the USA in order to avoid import tariffs. Until now, Audi has been serving the US market via imports, but the Ingolstadt-based car manufacturer is now confronted with the 25 percent tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump in recent weeks.

According to the report, Audi is looking at three US sites and could also use production capacities of the Volkswagen Group – the manufacturer has not yet wanted to comment on the media reports.

German of the day: “nicht zufriedenstellend”

October 9, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means not satisfactory or unsatisfactory.

Year number two. Germany is on a roll.

Germany expects economy to shrink after cutting 2024 forecast – Government predicts rebound in 2025 after 0.2% decline this year.

Germany is facing its first two-year recession since the early 2000s, as the government downgraded its growth forecast for 2024, predicting a contraction of 0.2 per cent.

“The situation is not satisfactory,” Robert Habeck, economy minister, said on Wednesday.

German arms exporters suddenly worried about “humanitarian law”

September 19, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Silly me. I thought that was the only kind of law there was.

Germany has stopped approving war weapons exports to Israel, source says – Germany has put a hold on new exports of weapons of war to Israel while it deals with legal challenges, according to a Reuters analysis of data and a source close to the Economy Ministry.

A source close to the ministry cited a senior government official as saying it had stopped work on approving export licences for arms to Israel due to legal and political pressure from legal cases arguing that such exports from Germany breached humanitarian law.

Let’s diversify!

August 13, 2024 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Just like we did with our dependency on Russian gas a few years back.

It’s called diversification through more dangerous entanglement.

German investment in China soars despite Berlin’s diversification drive – Politicians warn of rising geopolitical tensions but country’s carmakers stick with Chinese manufacturing.

German direct investment into China has risen sharply this year, in a sign that companies in Europe’s largest economy are ignoring pleas from their government to diversify into other, less geopolitically risky markets.

The Empire of Evil is now Germany’s biggest trading partner!

August 9, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

No, not China. US-Amerika itself.

US tops China as Germany’s biggest trading partner – The United States overtook China as Germany’s biggest trading partner in the first half of 2024, according to preliminary German statistics office data, as Berlin’s drive to reduce dependency on Beijing takes shape amid a resilient U.S. economy.

German imports and exports to the world’s largest economy totalled around 127 billion euros ($139 billion) from January to June, while for China the figure was 122 billion euros, according to Reuters’ calculations based on the data.

Sanctions work!

July 21, 2024 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

In theory, at least.

Spy-linked Russians restart trade with German toolmaker – Heller Tools exported machinery to entities linked to a covert FSB smuggling network.

Companies linked to a Russian spy ring have resumed buying machinery from a German toolmaker — just months after the manufacturer was warned about sales to the same smuggling network.

Analysis by the Financial Times has established that Heller Tools, a Dinklage-based group founded in the 19th century, sold a total of $1.2mn of drills and other tools to companies linked to the so-called Serniya smuggling operation.

A self-inflicted hostage-taking situation?

June 14, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Why is it that big German automakers are worried about Chinese retaliation?

Because they voluntarily put themselves in the position to be retaliated against. Think Germany’s voluntary dependency on Russian gas recently. That didn’t work out very well either. But for whatever reason, this is what Germans do.

Germany launches 11th-hour bid to avert trade war with China – Germany wants the EU to set tariffs on electric vehicles at a low level to avoid severe retaliation from Beijing…

Germany’s position was “problematic,” he said: While big German automakers still entertain good ties with Beijing, that’s not necessarily the case for smaller businesses, meaning “the German economy as a whole has an interest in a more assertive policy towards China.”

Germans asked to stop being so naive

April 25, 2024 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Hideology, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Germans reply by saying “What do you mean?”

“Just because we’re uncritical, unquestioning and easily taken in doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re naive. It worked with Russia, didn’t it?”

German spy agency warns companies against being too “naive” on China – Germany’s domestic spy agency told companies on Wednesday they should be on guard against industrial espionage by Beijing, warning them not to be naive or over-reliant on China.

The warning from the agency’s deputy head Sinan Selen came days after three German nationals were arrested on suspicion of handing over technology with military applications – a case which has highlighted mounting anxiety across Western Europe about Chinese spying.