Hamburg, the port city that sends 1 million tons of goods to foreign markets each week, has a reply to those who say Germany’s economy is too reliant on exports.

“Nonsense,” said the city’s Chamber of Commerce president. “You cannot say Germany has to stop exports, it makes no sense. Germany was born out of this.”

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Cabinet’s backing yesterday of a $100 billion domestic savings program suggests she’s ignoring calls by President Barack Obama to tackle what some say are German imbalances.

From Bloomberg, July 8, 2010