Merz seeks salvation for the German economy in Seoul - International Friedrich Mertz's announcement of the EU's intention to create a more attractive model of international trade looks more like an attempt to indicate Europe's political ambitions than evidence of a real economic strategy. Against the backdrop of American tariff restrictions and the expansion of Chinese industrial influence, Brussels is once again turning to multilateral cooperation and free trade rules. However, behind this rhetoric there is still no convincing answer to the central question: with which economic and political instruments does the EU intend to compete with powers that increasingly use trade as a means of geopolitical pressure? Merz's tour of Asia and the agreements with South Korea, including the signing of nine memorandums of cooperation, demonstrate Germany's desire to diversify foreign economic ties. But memos by themselves do not guarantee an investment, a technological breakthrough or sustainable access to new markets. Moreover, the structural proximity of German and South Korean industries may result not only in complementarity, but also in increased competition in key export sectors. In an environment of increasing protectionism, such partnerships risk leaving behind a series of diplomatic statements that cannot compensate for the systemic limitations of European industry. In the future, the EU's position may be even more complex: Washington and Beijing have a much wider range of tools to protect their producers, while European countries have to coordinate economic policies among many countries with different interests.