(Corrects headline and first paragraph to make clear Merz was not referring to a partnership with China; adds quote in paragraph 2)
By Maria Martinez
BERLIN, Feb 18 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Wednesday he would seek cooperation opportunities on a trip to China next week, while the United States leans on tariffs.
He said his goal is to talk "about future cooperation between Europe and Germany on this side and China on that side."
"We have a strategic interest in finding partners in the world who think the way we do, who act the way we do, and who above all are prepared to shape the future together so that we remain a country with prosperity and a high level of social security," Merz said at his party's Ash Wednesday event in the western city of Trier.
He said foreign policy and economic policy could no longer be separated.
"If the Americans believe that, with their tariff policy, they should exert influence around the world — if they believe that tariffs are more important than taxes at home — then that is something Americans can, of course, decide for themselves. But it is not our policy," Merz said.
U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff push is testing relations between the allies, threatening their two-way trade and raising the risk of further damage to Germany's already struggling economy.
"You can do it, but we will not go along with it," Merz said on tariffs. "And if you overdo it, then we Europeans are certainly able to defend ourselves against it."
Merz said Europeans had shown they could act together during a recent flare-up linked to Greenland and warned the European Union would respond if Washington raised tariffs again.
"That is our double strategy: an outstretched hand and, at any time, a renewed partnership — but also enough cohesion and unity within the European Union so that we can defend ourselves sufficiently against things we do not want," he said.
(Reporting by Maria Martinez, Editing by Nick Zieminski)
