Germany sees many reasons for transatlantic ties to be good

BERLIN (Reuters) - There are many strong reasons for transatlantic ties to be good, a spokesman for the German government said on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump called the European Union a "foe" with regard to trade.

German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said the EU and the United States had common interests and values even though their companies were competitors.

He said Merkel remained a convinced transatlanticist, adding: "Nothing has changed about that even if we have big differences of opinion."

(Reporting by Michelle Martin and Gernot Heller; Editing by Paul Carrel)