Indications That U.S. Tariffs Are Coming Against German Imports?

First, we had this odd photo op at the White House last week, where President Trump failed to shake the hand of German Chancellor Angela Merkel despite requests from the media for a handshake.



Then, of course, there were the tweets:

Despite what you have heard from the FAKE NEWS, I had a GREAT meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Nevertheless, Germany owes.....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 18, 2017

...vast sums of money to NATO & the United States must be paid more for the powerful, and very expensive, defense it provides to Germany!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 18, 2017

Germany's defense minister has rejected claims from that Germany owes NATO "vast sums of money."

 In a statement released on Sunday, Ursula von der Leyen said "there is no debt account in NATO. To relate the 2% defense spending that we want to reach in the next decade solely to NATO is wrong.
"The defense spending also goes to UN-peace mission, into European missions and towards our contributions to the fight against ISIS terrorism."

Only five of the bloc's 28 members -- the US, Greece, Poland, Estonia and the UK -- meet the alliance's target, which NATO also terms a "guideline" in its annual report.

Will Trump use the cover of Germany's failure to spend 2% of GDP for the military a reason to impose tariffs on a Merkel-led Germany that he seemingly does not like?

Also, note in the chart above that broke Greece spends the most on the military as a percentage of GDP.

-RW