Friedrich Merz, Germany's likely next chancellor, said U.S. President Donald Trump's pause of tariffs for 90 days was evidence of a united European approach to trade having a positive effect, and called for tariff-free U.

German Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz has unveiled a new coalition deal between the country’s two major centrist parties in a bold and optimistic speech in Berlin on Wednesday, hours after it was announced that an agreement to form a new government had been reached.

The agreement was concluded relatively quickly but still took about six and half weeks, during which the country had been virtually rudderless at a critical moment for Europe.