Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
November 23, 2016 01:00 AM

Reacting to Trump, VDMA praises free trade

Steve Toloken
Assistant Managing Editor
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Caroline Seidel
    Thorsten Kühmann, managing director of the VDMA Plastics and Rubber Machinery Association, speaks at a K 2016 event.

    Germany's large and export-oriented plastics machinery industry issued an unusual statement Nov. 23 decrying “any form of protectionism” and highlighting the importance of U.S. and Mexican markets, saying it was reacting to plans from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to renegotiate NAFTA.

    The Frankfurt, Germany-based VDMA trade association noted that the United States was Germany's largest export market in 2015 for plastics and rubber machinery, at 719 million euros ($757.6 million), surpassing China.

    It also said German plastics and rubber machinery exports to Mexico rose 50 percent last year, to 168 million euros ($177 million), making it the fourth-largest market. VDMA expects German machinery exports to remain strong to those two countries.

    “Existing free trade agreements are of fundamental importance for this,” said Thorsten Kühmann, managing director of the VDMA Plastics and Rubber Machinery Association. “Any form of protectionism on the other hand will be damaging to the business activities of all concerned.”

    Kühmann confirmed that the release, while it does not mention Trump directly, is timed around the President-elect's comments.

    The association said that in the case of Mexico, the “strong rate of growth may also be explained by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which has dismantled trade barriers in the region.”

    None of the statistics in VDMA's statement were new: the association had presented the details of its exports to both the U.S. and Mexico in extensive comments earlier this year.

    “We are concerned as we believe that global trade needs open markets,” Kühmann said in an email to Plastics News. “Trade agreements will have a positive effect on [global] trade!”

    In Trump's campaign statements, he said his administration would “tell NAFTA partners that we intend to immediately renegotiate the terms of that agreement to get a better deal for our workers.”

    In a Nov. 22 interview with editors and reporters at The New York Times, his most extensive with journalists since winning the election, he repeated those themes.

    “We can't beat anybody, we don't win anymore. At anything,” he said, according to a transcript the newspaper posted on its website. “We don't win on the border, we don't win with trade.”

    In a video released Nov. 21 outlining his first 100 days in office, Trump did not mention NAFTA but said he would withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks.

    He said his core principle would be “putting America first” and he said that he would “want the next generation of production and innovation to happen right here on our great homeland, America.”

    Since the election, other plastics associations have defended trade.

    The Washington-based American Chemistry Council, in a Nov. 9 post-election statement, called for “sound trade frameworks” to help realize the potential of shale gas-related investments.

    “As one of our nation's largest exporting industries, robust trade in raw materials and finished products helps fuel the growth of our sector here at home,” ACC said.

    “The $175 billion in investment in new factories and expanded production capacity by chemical producers, thanks to domestic shale gas, has positioned the U.S. to substantially grow its role as a premier supplier of essential materials for markets around the world,” it said, “but reaching that potential will require sound trade frameworks.

    “We agree that trade should be fair, and also know firsthand that trade can unlock potential in our economy and create jobs here at home,” ACC said.

    ACC officials have previously said both TTP and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership talks underway with Europe were important first steps in its trade agenda. VDMA said it would still support TTIP.

    A Nov. 9 statement from the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. in Washington did not mention trade, instead discussing natural resources, chemical health laws, tax policy and state and local restrictions on plastic products.

    Some Trump administration transition officials have suggested that renegotiating NAFTA could involve much less dramatic sounding steps, such as stepping up annual reviews, or in the case of other countries, targeted tariffs less likely to draw major retaliation and prompt bigger trade conflicts. But the incoming administration's plans remain unclear, leading to uncertainty in business circles.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    People Watch: Week of March 27, 2023
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    Biden sets US goal to replace 90% of plastics with biomaterials
    2
    Redline's ‘outrageous cultural behaviors' retain top employees
    3
    Industry sees Biden bioplastics goal as serious signal
    4
    Official says Norfolk Southern fire likely started in rail car containing resin
    5
    Commodity prices rise; engineering resins drop
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified