Does everything change with a US President Joe Biden?
Experts say no.
Not only German politicians hope that the tone will improve.
But what does the democrat stand for in terms of content?
An overview.
Joe Biden
was proclaimed the newly elected President of the United States on Saturday.
The Democrat wants to
reunite
America
and regain more international respect for his country.
An
overview of
what Biden has promised so far in terms of foreign and domestic policy.
Washington, DC -
Joe Biden's
victory has raised hopes among many that
German-American relations
will improve again next year.
On Monday morning,
Chancellor Angela Merkel called
the friendship a “shared treasure”.
She looks forward to working with Biden and the elected Vice President Kamala Harris *.
But even if the tone is likely to change, how much is the substantive position of the
USA in
relation to
Germany
and Europe
changing
?
Few of them believe in a solution to all bilateral conflicts.
The
Federal Government's
coordinator
for transatlantic relations,
Peter Beyer
, emphasizes that
Barack Obama's
presidency was
not an easy one for Germany either.
"I warn against the rose-colored glasses of transatlantic nostalgia," says the CDU member of the Bundestag.
At the time of Obama's diplomatic upheaval, for example, the cell phone of Chancellor Merkel (CDU *) was
tapped
by the US secret service
NSA
.
Joe Biden: What will change foreign policy under the leadership of the Democrat?
In contrast to his predecessor, Biden is committed to
multilateral cooperation
.
He announced that he would
revise
the US withdrawal from the
Paris Agreement
and the
World Health Organization
and
want to strengthen
NATO
.
But which lines of conflict remain after Donald Trump said from the beginning: "America First"?
Nord Stream 2:
Trump argues that Germany is being protected by the USA, but at the same time is paying Russia “billions of dollars” for gas.
The criticism of the
Baltic Sea pipeline from Russia to Germany
, however, is cross-party.
In Congress, both Republicans and Democrats supported sanctions to stop the project.
As US Vice President Biden called the pipeline "a fundamentally bad deal for Europe".
Defense spending
:
Donald Trump * calls Germany “defaulting” because it does not meet NATO's two percent target.
This goal envisages that
by 2024
all
allies
will come closer to spending at least two percent of their gross domestic product on defense.
In essence, this demand will not change much: Biden points out that the Obama administration has already campaigned for NATO states to increase their defense spending.
"Our allies should do their fair share."
US troops:
Trump had announced the withdrawal of around a third of the US soldiers stationed in Germany.
A Biden spokesman called this "a gift for (Kremlin chief)
Vladimir Putin
" and announced that Joe Biden * would "review" the decision after an election victory.
Experts doubt that it will be completely reversed.
According to a poll by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, almost two-thirds of Democrats are in favor of
reducing
the number of
US troops
in Germany, as announced by Trump, or even further.
Trade:
Trump has started a trade conflict with the
EU
and repeatedly
threatened
punitive tariffs on
car imports
, which would particularly
affect
German manufacturers.
Biden advisor Tony Blinken has announced that it will end the "artificial trade war".
But he also criticized that there was "a growing imbalance in trade in
agricultural goods
due to rules that prevent us from selling goods where we are very competitive".
Since the election, German politicians have repeatedly said that Europe and Germany themselves must
take on
more
responsibility
and act
more
independently of America.
A wish that has been expressed several times.
Joe Biden: What does the US President-elect want to change domestically in the US?
But Joe Biden can not only make new foreign policy acceptances *, during the election campaign he also announced many changes in
strategy
for American domestic policy.
He is already having experts work out new measures on one topic: the
corona crisis
.
Because in the past few days, high values have been reported in the USA *.
Coronavirus:
In the election campaign, Biden
accused
the US President * of failure and inaction in the fight against the
corona pandemic
.
Recently, the Trump administration hardly tried to slow the spread of the corona virus.
Biden, on the other hand, wants to
rely
heavily on the wearing of
masks in
order to curb the spread.
First of all, he wants to prescribe masks in state institutions and advertise strict regulations to governors in the states.
In addition, more testing should be done - and scientists like the
immunologist Anthony Fauci
should have more influence on politics.
We cannot repair the economy, restore our vitality, or relish life's most precious moments - hugging a grandchild, birthdays, weddings, graduations, all the moments that matter most to us - until we get this virus under control.
- Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) November 8, 2020
Economy:
Trump claimed to have created "the largest economy in history", including through lower taxes.
Biden, on the other hand, made it clear that he wanted to ask rich people to fund social programs and the expansion of the health care system.
"Anyone who earns less than $ 400,000 (around 342,000 euros) a year doesn't pay a cent more," promises Biden.
The corporate tax, which was lowered by Trump, is to be increased from 21 to 28 percent.
During the election campaign, Biden repeatedly denounced that large corporations did not pay their fair share of
taxes
.
First, however, Biden might have to take countermeasures if the economy were to suffer from the consequences of the corona infections ramping up again when he took office in January.
Health Care:
The Republicans have been fighting for years for the
health care reform
to overturn President Barack Obama, the approximately 20 million Americans took a health insurance - but partly also higher payments.
Biden's name is firmly tied to this reform, partly because he worked to get it through the Senate.
Meanwhile, Biden announced that he would
expand
“Obamacare”
, especially for low-wage earners.
At the same time, he could need a whole new law if the reform is overturned by the Supreme Court.
Racism:
Biden, who is popular with many African Americans, said very clearly during the election campaign that there is racism in the USA that is anchored in the institutions.
Among other things, he wanted to
counteract
with a
police reform
and better economic conditions for black.
Environment and energy:
Biden announced that he would
bring
the US back to the
Paris climate agreement
that Trump had left.
In the second TV duel, the Democrat also said that he
wanted to
lead the country out of its dependence on fossil fuels in the long term and instead focus more on
renewable energies
- words that may voices him in states with a strong oil and gas industry like Pennsylvania have cost.
Biden also wants to get rid of government subsidies for the industry.
Immigration:
Biden's plan is, among other things, to open the way to citizenship again for more people living in the US without papers.
To do this, he will have to reverse a lot of Trump's policies of the past four years.
Biden should ensure that, like before Trump, above all those
immigrants
who have
illegally entered the country and
who have committed crimes are deported.
And he said he
would stop
funding Trump's parade project - the high fence on the border with
Mexico
.
(dpa / cibo) * Merkur.de is part of the Ippen digital network.