Mubasher: The European Commission announced that it has cut its growth outlook for the German economy in conjunction with the trade tensions currently witnessed worldwide, as reported by MarketWatch.  

"Risks are tilted to the downside. Global trade-policy uncertainty could affect the highly open German economy more strongly," the EU commission said in its summer growth forecast.

The EU outlook for Germany’s economic growth showed "Escalating protectionism would likely weigh on business confidence across the globe and thus dampen global investment demand which is likely contributing to the growing concerns of German exporters."

MarketWatch added that the EU commission currently projects real gross domestic product (GDP) to rise by 1.9% in both 2018 and 2019 compared with a previous forecast of 2.3% for this year and 2.1% for next year.

“With its largely export-driven economy, Germany has long been a champion of lowering trade barriers around the world, despite facing increasing grass-roots hostility at home. Economists have warned it would be among the biggest losers if the US moved ahead to build trade barriers,” MarketWatch added.