Merkel rejects U.S. comments, says Germany cannot influence euro

[January 31, 2017]  STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday rejected a U.S. trade adviser's charge that Germany was using an "undervalued" euro to gain advantage, saying her government had always called on the European Central Bank to pursue an independent policy.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks during a joint news conference with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven after their meeting at the government headquarters Rosenbad in Stockholm in Stockholm, Sweden January 31 ,2017 .TT News Agency/Henrik Montgomery via Reuters

"Germany is a country that has always called for the European Central Bank to pursue an independent policy, just as the Bundesbank did that before the euro existed," Merkel told a news conference with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven.

"Because of that we will not influence the behavior of the ECB. And as a result, I cannot and do not want to change the situation as it is," she added.

Peter Navarro, the head of Trump's new National Trade Council, told the Financial Times newspaper that the euro was like an "implicit Deutsche Mark" whose low valuation gave Germany a competitive advantage over its main partners.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Joseph Nasr)

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