Germany's economy is expected to post zero growth this year, outgoing Economy Minister Robert Habeck said Thursday, blaming US President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs.

"The US trade policy of threatening and imposing tariffs has a direct impact on the German economy, which is very export-oriented," he said, presenting the forecast.

The German government had previously expected slight GDP growth of 0.3 percent for this year for Europe's top economy, which shrank for the past two years.

It also cut its growth forecast for 2026 to one percent from 1.1 percent.

The United States is Germany's largest trading partner and last year took about 10 percent of its exports, from cars to chemicals.

Under Trump, it now levies a 10 percent tariff on European Union exports into the country, having earlier announced a 20 percent rate which was then paused.

"Tariffs and trade policy turbulence are hitting the German economy harder than other nations," Habeck said.

"We depend on open markets, functioning markets, and a globalised world," he told a Berlin press conference. "That's what has made this country rich."

German GDP shrank by 0.3 percent in 2023 and by 0.2 percent in 2024, as it was battered by higher energy prices following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

It has also been hit by increasingly fierce Chinese competition in key industries such as automobiles and machinery.

"I would say that we are going through a paradigm shift when it comes to the basic earners for the German economy," Habeck said.

"Our big trade partners, China and the USA, and our neighbour, Russia, are causing us problems."

'Made in Germany is over'

Habeck also said the government had taken few steps to stimulate the economy since the coalition of outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz collapsed in November, paving the way for elections in February.

"For half a year now, hardly any initiative has been taken to counteract the stagnation through legislation or measures," he said.

Looking ahead, Habeck voiced hope a new spending package worth many hundreds of billions of euros could help revive the economy under conservative Friedrich Merz, who is expected to take power in early May.

"It's good that investments are finally being made," Habeck said, adding that they "can offset the slump or the pressure on foreign trade to some extent".

The growth forecast took into account the "positive impetus" from the debt-financed investments and also assumed there would be no further escalation of the tariff "madness", he said.

Habeck also called on his successors to strengthen European unity and independence so that Germany could hold its own against economic giants.

"Made in Germany is over," he said. "We are a single market and it is through that market that we will bring investment back into Europe."

"We must support the EU in taking a clear position, in negotiating confidently with the USA and at the same helping it be prepared to impose effective counter-measures."

"The situation of the German economy is serious," said Helena Melnikov, head of the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce.

She called for "the future federal government to move forward and, above all, find solutions to the tariff dispute with the US at the EU level", stressing that time is of the essence.

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The EU on Wednesday slapped Apple and Meta with 700 million euros in fines for breaking digital competition rules, risking the wrath of US President Donald Trump.

The penalties threaten to cause more tension in the already fraught relationship between the bloc and Trump, as the two sides discuss a deal to avoid his sweeping tariffs on the EU.

The European Commission fined Apple 500 million euros ($570 million) after concluding the company prevented developers from steering customers outside its App Store to access cheaper deals.

The EU also fined Meta 200 million euros over its "pay or consent" system after it violated rules on the use of personal data on Facebook and Instagram.

The fines are the first under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which came into effect last year, forcing the world's biggest tech firms to open up to competition in the EU.

They could rise further if Meta and Apple fail to comply within 60 days, the commission said, threatening the US giants with "periodic penalty payments".

The EU bolstered its legal arsenal over the past two years with major twin laws, the Digital Services Act and the DMA.

But since Trump's return to the White House, there have been concerns that the EU would shy away from enforcing them.

Trump frequently lashes out at the EU over its digital laws and taxes -- claiming they are "non-tariff barriers" to trade -- and many tech CEOs have aligned with his administration.

He has imposed 25-percent tariffs on steel, aluminium and auto imports from the EU, which Brussels hopes he will lift after an agreement.

Antitrust commissioner Teresa Ribera said in a statement the fines "send a strong and clear message", insisting the bloc had taken "firm but balanced enforcement action".

Apple appeal

The fines -- which come after the investigations began in March 2024 -- also appear to be more modest than past penalties against US Big Tech.

When Apple committed similar offences on its App Store, the commission slapped a 1.8-billion-euro fine in March 2024 under different EU rules.

Apple faces a litany of accusations. The EU also told Apple in preliminary findings it was in breach of the DMA -- and therefore at risk of another hefty fine -- for not making it easy for rivals to provide alternatives to its App Store.

Apple, however, slammed the decisions and said in a statement it would appeal the fine.

"Today's announcements are yet another example of the European Commission unfairly targeting Apple in a series of decisions that are bad for the privacy and security of our users, bad for products, and force us to give away our technology for free," the company said.

Meta accused the EU of "attempting to handicap successful American businesses while allowing Chinese and European companies to operate under different standards".

"This isn't just about a fine; the Commission forcing us to change our business model effectively imposes a multi-billion-dollar tariff on Meta while requiring us to offer an inferior service," said Meta's chief global affairs officer Joel Kaplan, a prominent Republican and Trump ally.

In a rare bit of good news for Apple, the EU closed its investigation over its user choice obligations after Apple complied with the DMA, and made it easy to select a default browser and for users to remove pre-installed apps such as Safari.

Meta's data use

The fine against Meta concerned its "pay for privacy" system, which has faced fierce criticism by rights defenders in Europe after its introduction in November 2023.

It means users have to pay to avoid data collection, or agree to share their data with Facebook and Instagram to keep using the platforms for free.

But the commission concluded Meta did not provide Facebook and Instagram users a less personalised but equivalent version of the platforms, and "did not allow users to exercise their right to freely consent to the combination of their personal data".

Meta in November last year proposed a new version, which the EU is currently assessing.

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Finnish telecoms equipment maker Nokia on Thursday reported a net loss of 60 million euros ($68 million) for the first quarter, citing the tariff wars and "rapidly evolving global trade landscape".

The company said tariffs imposed by the United States could result in "some short-term disruption".

"We are not immune to the rapidly evolving global trade landscape. However based on early customer feedback, I believe our markets should prove to be relatively resilient", Justin Hotard President and CEO of Nokia said in a statement.

"Based on what we see today, we currently expect a EUR 20 to 30 million impact to our comparable operating profit in the second quarter from the current tariffs", Hotard said.

US President Donald Trump implemented a tariff of 10 percent on global imports this month, but he paused plans for higher duties on dozens of countries, including a 20 percent duty for goods from EU nations.

Nokia also reported net sales of 4.4 billion euros ($4.9 billion), down one percent compared to a year ago.

It had posted a net profit of 438 million euros in the first quarter of last year.

The company said it expects its Network Infrastructure and Cloud and Network Services divisions to see sales growth this year, while Mobile Networks to hold steady.

Alongside its first quarter report, it announced a contract extension with US operator T-Mobile on Thursday, saying it continued "to see positive signs of stabilisation" in its Mobile Networks business.

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British online bank Revolut said Thursday it more than doubled net profit last year to £790 million ($1.1 billion) as customer numbers surged particularly in France, its new second-biggest market.

"We not only accelerated our customer growth, welcoming nearly 15 million new users globally, but critically, we also saw customers engaging more deeply by adopting a wider range of our services," chief executive Nik Storonsky said in a statement.

The fintech said it grew customers to 52.5 million worldwide, up 38 percent compared with 2023.

It gained more than one million customers in France, bringing the total to over five million.

"I think by end of next year we should reach 10 million customers in France, because right now we are getting 200,000 customers per month," Revolut's chief growth and marketing officer, Antoine Le Nel, told AFP.

The company, which posted its first profit in 2021, saw its revenue surge 72 percent last year to £3.1 billion.

Chief financial officer Victor Stinga highlighted the jump in revenue from business customers, with the "more nascent" part of the group reaching 15 percent of total turnover.

Revolut, which launched in 2015, aims to compete with European banking giants and is targeting 100 million customers in 100 countries.

However, its rapid growth has also drawn criticism in recent years regarding its ability to comply with financial regulations, particularly those aimed at combating fraud and money laundering.

In early April, the bank which operates in the European Union under a Lithuanian license, was fined 3.5 million euros for failures in its anti-money laundering control processes.

Stinga said the fintech is investing in the fight against financial crime, telling AFP that the penalty handed down by eurozone member state Lithuania concerned events "very much historic in nature".

Valued at $45 billion last year, Revolut obtained a "restricted" UK banking licence in July.

It hopes to obtain a full licence this year, which would allow it to lend money as well as take deposits in the UK, and is seen as a gateway to gaining bank licences around the world.

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French luxury group Kering said first quarter revenues slid 14 percent to 3.9 billion euros ($4.4 billion) as sales at its flagship Gucci brand slumped further.

Kering has struggled to turn things around at Gucci, which accounts for half of group sales, but they fell 24 percent in the first three months of this year compared to the same period last year, when they were down a fifth.

Gucci sales fell by 23 percent last year overall, contributing to a sharp plunge in net profits to 1.13 billion euros for the group which also includes Yves Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta and Balenciaga.

"As we had anticipated, Kering faced a difficult start to the year," chief executive Francois-Henri Pinault said in a statement.

"We are increasing our vigilance to weather the macroeconomic headwinds our industry faces, and I am convinced that we will come out stronger from the present situation," he added.

Concerning US tariffs, "we consider that we have the capacity to protect our margins via price increases," chief financial officer Armelle Poulou told journalists.

"Today there are still enormous uncertainties so we're still working on that," she added.

Even if punitive tariffs don't hit luxury goods directly, a trade war would likely crimp consumer sentiment.

The sales downturn in the Asia-Pacific region, a key area for the luxury sector, was particularly sharp at 25 percent.

Pinault expressed confidence earlier this year that Kering would turn around Gucci, and has shaken up the top leadership.

In March it appointed Demna Gvasalia from its Balenciaga brand as chief designer at Kering, to replace Sabato de Sarno, who lasted only two years in the job.

The appointment failed to convince markets, with Kering's share price falling 11 percent the following day.

The company's stock nearly hit 800 euros per share in 2021 but closed at 174.94 euros Wednesday.

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