https://www.live-feeds.com/feed/merz-invites-japan-to-back-trade-alliance-as-china-asks-germany-to-be-rationalContinuously updated, source-cited coverage. https://www.live-feeds.com/feed/merz-invites-japan-to-back-trade-alliance-as-china-asks-germany-to-be-rationalhttps://www.live-feeds.com/feed/merz-invites-japan-to-back-trade-alliance-as-china-asks-germany-to-be-rational#u166427Sat, 31 Oct 2026 15:40:53 +0000German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called on Japan during a business summit in Tokyo to support a new global trade alliance of like-minded partners to defend rules-based commerce and counter economic coercion and tariffs. The two nations also targeted closer ties on critical minerals, adopted an economic security declaration, and agreed to launch a new artificial intelligence dialogue framework. Meanwhile, Chinese Premier Li Qiang told visiting German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Beijing that China is willing to import more German products while asking Germany to remain rational on trade