BMW, Lufthansa, Siemens CEOs stress perils of protectionism - Bloomberg

Chief executive officers from BMW AG, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, and Siemens AG were on the wires, via Bloomberg, as all emphasized the perils of protectionism in comments Wednesday after a top Trump administration official criticized German trade policies. In an interview with the Financial Times, Peter Navarro, the head of the White House National Trade Council, called Germany’s surplus a sign of a “grossly undervalued” currency.

Key Highlights:

•The comments drew immediate censure from Chancellor Angela Merkel, who noted Tuesday that the European Central Bank is responsible for the euro and that the German government has long upheld the ECB’s independence. Corporate leaders quickly jumped in, highlighting the benefits of free trade.

•BMW chief Harald Krueger stressed the importance of the U.S. to his company in terms of both sales and production. The company’s factory in Spartanburg, South Carolina, its largest anywhere, is being expanded to an annual capacity of about 450,000 sport utility vehicles.

•The U.S. is the biggest importer of German goods, buying some $125 billion worth in 2015. And Germany is the No. 4 foreign market for U.S. companies, which in 2015 exported $50 billion in products to the country.

•Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr, speaking in Abu Dhabi where he announced a series of projects with Gulf carrier Etihad Airways, called the airline industry “the good guys of globalization” and said his company remained committed to free trade.

•Joe Kaeser, CEO of industrial giant Siemens, cautioned against the rising tide of populism worldwide, saying his company is a net exporter from the U.S., with more than 60 factories employing about 50,000 people.