Trade deal between EU, US would 'make a lot of sense': German chancellor Merkel

Merkel said that while Germany had no interest in a world divided into camps as it was in the Cold War, it was good that the United States, Europe's "most important ally", stood alongside Europe in rivalries with China and Russia.

A trade agreement between the United States and the European Union would "make a lot of sense", German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a speech in which she welcomed the United States' return to the multilateral table under President Joe Biden.

"I have always supported a trade agreement between the United States of America and the European Union," Merkel said. (AP file photo)

She said that while Germany had no interest in a world divided into camps as it was in the Cold War, it was good that the United States, Europe's "most important ally", stood alongside Europe in rivalries with China and Russia.

"I have always supported a trade agreement between the United States of America and the European Union," she told a Berlin conference on the future of transatlantic ties.

"We have trade agreements with so many of the world's regions. It would make a lot of sense to develop such a trade agreement here, similar to what we have done with Canada," she added.