Mubasher: Germany on Thursday said that its trade surplus shrank in September, with exports falling by more than imports, as trade tension with the US curtails growth in Europe’s largest economy.

The German trade surplus came in at EUR 17.6 billion ($20.10 billion) last September, narrowing from a revised EUR 18.2 billion in August, data from the Federal Statistics Office (Destatis) showed.

This came as German exports declined 0.8% in September, from the previous month, while imports went down 0.4%.

“A combination of slowing world trade and temporary factors like the new emissions norms for autos hit the German export sector over the summer months,” ING Germany chief economist Carsten Brzeski said.

Available monthly industrial production data indicated that Europe’s biggest economy had its worst performance in the third quarter of 2018 since the start of 2015, Brzeski added.

A council of German experts on Wednesday downgraded economic outlook for the country on the back of trade disputes, Brexit uncertainty and ageing workforce.

Export-reliant German economy faces exposure to trade tensions triggered by US President Donald Trump.