Germany's trade surplus with the United States reached a record level, data from the statistics office showed, as countries wait to learn how U.S. President Donald Trump will impose tariffs on imported goods, Reuters reported. Germany's trade surplus with the U.S. expanded to 70 billion euros ($72 billion) in 2024, well above the previous record of 63.3 billion euros reported for the full year 2023. "It would be hard to imagine worse timing," said Holger Goerg, from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW).

Portugal’s government is considering selling a stake of at least 49% of TAP SA in its latest attempt to privatize the state-owned airline, Bloomberg News reported. The privatization process is due to start in March and may be concluded at the end of this year or in 2026, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing information that isn’t public. There are about 12 firms interested in TAP. Europe’s largest full-service airlines — Air France-KLM, Deutsche Lufthansa AG and British Airways owner IAG SA — have all gone public with their interest in TAP.

An artificial intelligence race is heating up between the United States and China — but don’t count Europe out. That was the pitch that President Emmanuel Macron of France made on Monday as Paris hosted an A.I. summit, where government leaders, top tech executives and academic experts have gathered to discuss the hopes surrounding A.I., as well as the fears of economic and societal disruption that the rapidly evolving technology has fueled, the New York Times reported. “We are back in the race,” Mr.

Sweden’s state-owned pension fund AP2 has written down its entire stake in bankrupt battery maker Northvolt AB, according to the fund’s annual report, Bloomberg News reported. AP2, which has been a shareholder of Northvolt since 2021, said the stake was worth 1.5 billion kronor ($137 million) at the beginning of 2024, corresponding to 17% of its investments in sustainable infrastructure. Northvolt filed for chapter 11 protection in the U.S. in November after a bid to secure rescue funding fell short, leaving the company with little cash and $5.8 billion in debt.

Europe is prepared to act in response to possible restrictions to trade, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Monday, after holding discussions with industry lobbies and the EU's top trade representative about the threat of tariffs from the U.S., Reuters reported. "Europe must and can only react unitedly and decisively to unilateral trade restrictions. And we are prepared for this," Habeck said in a statement.

One of the rescue bidders for Thames Water has written to the High Court in London questioning the feasibility of finding new equity for the beleaguered utility by April, Bloomberg News reported. Covalis Capital LLP is one contender to provide Thames with billions in new equity it needs after its existing shareholders declared the business “uninvestible.” The deadline to bring in another investor is Monday.

Industrial production in Germany sank in December, driven by a fall in output from the car industry, a further weak note for the troubled sector as it faces the threat of U.S. tariffs, the Wall Street Journal reported. Output declined 2.4% on month in December, German statistics agency Destatis said Friday. Production fell 4.5% in 2024 as a whole. The fall in December, more than offsetting the 1.3% growth in November, was driven by auto production, which contracted 10%.

Gerresheimer AG, the German maker of packaging for drugs and cosmetics, is exploring a potential sale amid interest from private equity funds, Bloomberg News reported. Dusseldorf-based Gerresheimer is working with advisers to gauge interest from possible buyers asking not to be identified because the information is private. Shares of Gerresheimer jumped as much as 15% in German trading on Friday, giving the company a market value of about €2.7 billion ($2.8 billion). Warburg Pincus, EQT AB and KKR & Co. are among suitors that have been studying the business.