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Bilateral Relations Political relations between Germany and the US have traditionally been close and trust-based. This became especially clear at the meeting between Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and President George W. Bush in Washington on October 9, 2001. The Federal Chancellor was the first foreign head of government to visit Washington after the beginning of the Allied campaign in Afghanistan on October 7. The two countries' governments and parliaments are involved in a varied and intensive exchange of views. At the parliamentary level, this is primarily due to the commitment of German MPs, but also to the fact that members of Congress have shown increasing interest in Germany in recent years. Recent exchanges have naturally focused on the joint efforts to combat terrorism as well as on the security interests of both partners (NATO/ESDP, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, the Middle East, etc.). The sensitive issue of relations with the approximately 6 million American Jews is of particular importance. The Federal Government and the Bundestag cultivate lively contacts and an active dialogue with Jewish-American organizations in order to promote mutual understanding. German-US economic relations are largely free of problems. Bilateral trade has been continually increasing for years:
Figures provided by the Federal Statistical Office German exports to the U.S. were mainly technical products (share of total exports in parentheses): motor vehicles (30%), machinery (22%) and electrical products (11%), chemical and pharmaceutical products (8%), aircraft (8%). Main products imported from the US into Germany include machinery (23%), electrical products (26%) and aircraft (24%). The two economies are mutually important to each other as places of investment: around 50% of German foreign direct investment went to the U.S. in 2000 and total German investment there amounts to approximately 252 billion DM. The U.S. is the largest investor in Germany with total investments amounting to 100 billion Dollar, of which about 10% are in the new Federal Länder, making the U.S. the largest foreign investor there. Cultural relations are diverse. Every year hundreds of thousands of people travel across the Atlantic as participants in one of the many exchange programmes, as artists or as tourists. American soldiers lived in Germany with their families in the years after World War II and brought the American way of life to Germany. Hundreds of thousands of exchange students had the opportunity to get to know the American educational system during short or long visits. German takes third place after Spanish and French among the foreign languages taught at private secondary schools, colleges and universities. More than 23 % of all Americans today are of German descent. Other than the Italians, Greeks or Irish, however, German-Americans are not a cohesive group which influences political life in the US. While there are innumerable German-American associations, they are involved almost exclusively in cultivating the customs and traditions of their ancestors.
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