Companies Fear Americans Won't Buy German

Anton Börner, the head of a leading German business group, has a three-word vision of horror running through his head as he watches the political ties between Germany and the United States unravel. It is: "Don't buy German."

Börner, president of the Federation of German Wholesale and Foreign Trade, is one of many business leaders who are expressing fear that the political dispute could cause extensive damage to the country's exports, the one area of the German economy that still is advancing. "The excellent, decades-long relationship with the United States is a fundamental pillar of our prosperity," Börner said in a statement.

The fears extend to the cultural and political community as well. And one organization, the Atlantik Brücke (Atlantic Bridge), is taking out a full-page advertisement in Sunday's edition of The New York Times and in Monday's edition of Die Welt to try to soothe raw feelings. The ad by the group, Germany's oldest organization promoting U.S.-German ties, praises the two countries' "community of values."

"Today, with the world being forced to defend itself against terrorism and the spread of weapons of mass destruction, we reaffirm our alliance to the United States," the ad says.

Schröder stakes out position

The worries are being fueled by the clash between German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and President George W. Bush over Bush's threat to wage war against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Schröder first began to anger U.S. officials during the summer, when he pledged on the campaign trail to keep German forces out of the possible war. Last month, he went even further, saying Germany would not vote for any resolution in the U.N. Security Council that authorized such an attack.

As Börner and other trade group leaders have seen the tensions spread, the German domestic economy has slipped deeper into its slumber. Joblessness rose from 10.1 percent in December to 11.1 in January, creating a legion of 4.6 million people. That is more than the population of the eastern state of Saxony.

At the same time, exports have moved forward. In 2002, they climbed 1.6 percent to 648.4 billion euros ($695.6 billion), according the German Statistics Office in Wiesbaden.

But exports to the United States, Germany's biggest trading partner outside the European Union, have grown stagnate as well. Through September, they dipped 3 percent, according to the Federation of German Industries.

A chill sets in

As the political conflict boils, Börner's trade group said companies were reporting a chill in their relationship with customers. "They are feeling an increased unease in their dealings with customers," said André Schwarz, a spokesman for the foreign trade federation. "And they are worried that the next step may be that people will look for alternatives."

Such large German international corporations as DaimlerChrysler, BMW and Siemens have not reported any problems yet, according to the Reuters news agency. But Schwarz told DW-WORLD that many companies were feeling the chill, including those in the air industry. Schwarz did not want to identify any of the companies that have complained because of their reluctance to go public.

At the Federation of German Industries, staff members also have been watching and worrying about the effect that the dispute could have on business, said Sigrid Zirbel, a staff member who focuses on U.S. issues. But Zirbel said she recognized that the business community had only limited influence over the issue. "It is a problem in the political arena that must be solved in the political arena," she said.

The temperature of that problem has been rising this week in Washington as leaders express their anger about opposition within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization from Germany, France and Belgium to a plan to support Turkey.

Rep. Tom Lantos of California, the ranking Democrat on the House International Relations Committee, said: "Had it not been for our military commitment, France, Germany and Belgium today would be Soviet socialist republics. The failure of these states to honor their commitments is beneath contempt."

"France and Germany are losing credibility by the day, and they are losing, I think, status in the world," House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, told The Washington Post this week. "They are walking a fine line that is very dangerous."

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., angered by France's policies on agriculture as well as on Iraq, has told associates he would like to target two of that nation's most sacred drinks: water and wine, the Post reported. At a GOP retreat this past weekend, Hastert talked to House members about slapping restrictions on these French exports, it said.

Groups planning talks

To offset any such emotions, the Federation of German Industries is putting together a lobbying strategy that it hopes will win back the confidence that the federation staff members think is waning.

The first stage of this effort will be launched on Thursday and Friday at a previously scheduled conference being held in Bonn and Cologne. Among the guests at this annual gathering will be nine members of the U.S. House of Representatives. "In these difficult times, the dialogue must be pushed forward," Zirbel said.

The business community is also planning to spread its message in the United States during the spring. One effort will focus on a trip in May to Washington, where leaders will use another previously scheduled event, the German-American Executive Summit, as a lobbying forum. "The goal is to intensify the dialogue between the business and political communities on both sides," a federation statement said.

At the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Frankfurt, though, Fred Irwin is wondering what all of the commotion is about. "The German-American business relationship is very long, very old, very deep and very healthy," the head of the chamber said in a radio interview this week.

And unlike Börner, Irwin said he was not concerned at all about a campaign like "Don't Buy German."