Mechanical and plant engineering
VDMA dampens expectations for 2019
At the VDMA's economic press conference, association president Carl Martin Welcker lowered the production forecast for the German mechanical and plant engineering industry. The reason for this is the smouldering trade disputes between the world's major economic blocs.
The disputes over tariffs and other trade barriers are increasingly unsettling market participants and dampening the mood to invest. According to VDMA President Carl Martin Welcker, this is now also having an impact on business in the mechanical engineering sector. "Although the existing order backlog of 8.5 months on average is still providing a good buffer for production in the first few months of the current year," Welcker said at the association's business press conference at the start of the Hannover Messe 2019, "the economic momentum is slowing, both abroad and at home. The politically induced risks in important sales markets are having an impact, with no solutions in sight".
"The danger of a further escalating trade dispute between China and the US hangs over everything. This also applies to the still smouldering trade dispute between the USA and the EU. According to the VDMA, Europe must find strategic answers to US President Donald Trump's attempt to enforce American law all over the world with the help of extra-territorial sanctions. At the same time, the close trade relations across the Atlantic that have grown over decades must not be jeopardized lightly. The VDMA is therefore urging the EU to quickly issue the negotiating mandates for a lean free trade agreement with the USA and not wait until after the European elections. According to the association, the result of such an agreement must be the abolition of all industrial tariffs and technical barriers to trade, as well as the mutual recognition of conformity assessments.
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