German finance minister warns of retaliation if U.S. kicks off trade war [Video]

German Finance Minister Christian Lindner on Friday warned that if the U.S. kicked off a trade war with the European Union, there could be retaliation.

“Trade controversy sees never winners, only losers,” Lindner told CNBC’s Karen Tso on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

What U.S. trade policy could look like if Donald Trump were elected as president is a key issue, Lindner suggested. “In that case we need diplomatic efforts to convince whoever enters the White House that it’s not in the best interest of the U.S. to have a trade conflict with [the] European Union. We would have to consider retaliation,” he said. Lindner belongs to the pro-business Free Democratic Party which is currently in coalition with Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party.

The U.S.’ problem with trading lies with China rather than the EU, Lindner said, adding that the EU “should not become a negative side effect” of controversy between the …