German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged Japan in Tokyo on October 28 to back an alliance of like-minded partners against tariffs and economic coercion, and said Germany is examining whether it could join the Japan, Italy and Britain-led GCAP fighter jet programme.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged Japan on Wednesday to back a proposed global alliance to defend rules-based trade, telling a business summit in Tokyo that an alliance of like-minded partners would help countries resist the growing use of tariffs and economic coercion. Should the rules of the trading system be violated or economic coercion employed, he said, members could coordinate their actions and present a united front.
Merz's pitch, made during a week-long Asia trip taking in Japan, South Korea and Singapore, echoed calls this year by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney for middle powers to work more closely together. Borrowing Carney's line from a January speech, Merz said that if countries move forward together, the question would no longer be whether they were on the menu or sitting at the table, because the restaurant itself would belong to them.
China, responding to the proposal, said it hoped Germany and the European Union would be objective and rational and that it was committed to working with all parties to maintain the stability of trade and supply chains. Merz also raised defence cooperation at a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, saying Germany is examining whether it could play a role in the Global Combat Air Programme led by Japan, Italy and Britain, whose aircraft is due to enter service in 2035.
The trade-alliance remarks come from Merz's prepared remarks as reported by Reuters, and the GCAP remarks from his Tokyo press conference as reported by Reuters, with one important distinction preserved: Takaichi did not mention GCAP specifically, saying only that Japan would promote defence industry cooperation where the two countries' capabilities were mutually complementary. The defence ministers of Germany and Japan will meet soon to discuss the matter, Merz said, while cautioning that Berlin might not meet Japan's hoped-for timeline of a decision by the start of next year.
The backdrop to the pitch is a German trade position under strain: a report by the state-owned agency Germany Trade and Invest, seen by Reuters, forecasts a record Asia-Pacific trade deficit of nearly 146 billion euros in 2026, as falling exports to China outweigh growing sales elsewhere in the region. German machinery exports to China fell 18% in the first seven months of 2026 and automotive exports dropped 30% over the same period, while German car sales in China have nearly halved from a peak of more than five million vehicles.
The next steps are the German-Japanese defence ministers' meeting on GCAP and whether other governments take up the trade-alliance idea beyond the Tokyo pitch; Merz invited Takaichi to visit Berlin the following year, giving the partnership a concrete date to be tested against.