BERLIN, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Volker Treier, head of international trade at the German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK), voiced concerns on Wednesday that German firms could be adversely affected by new U.S. sanctions against Russia.
The U.S. House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed a legislative draft which would lead to stricter economic sanctions against Russia, Iran and DPRK. The law still has to pass the Senate and be signed by U.S. President Donald Trump in order to be enacted.
Nonetheless, Treier expressed worries that wording of the legislation could harm the economic prospects of businesses outside of the U.S. including in Germany.
Important projects to ensure energy supply in Germany could be frozen if German firms were no longer allowed to cooperate with Russia on the construction of gas pipelines.
"That would heavily affect the German economy was well," Treier warned. He called on the European Commission to demand a clarification from Washington and prevent that new U.S. sanctions against Russia applied to firms in different countries.
"The impression remains that the U.S. side is prioritizing its own economic interests," Treier added with view to the U.S. oil and gas industry.
German business representatives had warned ahead of the vote in the U.S. House of Representatives that long-standing cooperation on energy supply between Germany and Russia could be threatened by new sanctions. Both the construction of new pipelines such as Nordstream 2 and Blue-Stream, as well as the maintenance of existing infrastructure were at risk.
