内容摘要：Subsequent contact with the AfD or Alice Weidel, she added, would be seen as a provocation by Germany.

Subsequent contact with the AfD or Alice Weidel, she added, would be seen as a provocation by Germany.

Trump later backtracked and delayed the tariffs until 9 July, a move that his US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer characterised as having a "fire lit" under the EU.Germany is the EU's largest exporter to the US, leaving the country's businesses extremely agitated about any trade obstacles.

Merz, a 69-year-old reputed millionaire with a corporate background, may feel confident about going toe-to-toe with Trump, who often hails himself as the consummate "dealmaker".Whether the Chancellor will be able to smooth the path for EU negotiators, however, remains to be seen.Constanze Stelzenmüller, an expert on German-US relations at the Brookings Institute, believes Merz's ability to push the negotiations along is limited, given that the EU as an institution has taken the lead on those talks.

"Whatever Merz says is mood music, rather than being able to say that XYZ will happen, even if major nation states aren't without influence on the European Commission," she explained. "He has to tread a delicate line."When it comes to Ukraine, Merz is vocal in his support of Kyiv and in his criticism of Moscow - recently warning that the fighting could drag on, despite repeated talk of a ceasefire from the White House.

Justin Logan, director of defence and foreign policy studies at the Washington DC-based Cato Institute, told the BBC he believes Ukraine will present a "dilemma" for the German side in the meeting.

"They'll make a real effort to sell what frankly are the same arguments that have so far failed to persuade the White House," he said.Did they really shed tears? "Absolutely, I had my tears at our final meeting where we joined hands and stood up. I said 'We still did great, take a bow."

What lessons can we draw for other high-tech ventures? "You definitely have no choice but to be optimistic," says Mr Dissel.The grim procedure of winding down the business took over as passwords and laptops were collected while servers were backed up in case "some future incarnation of the business can be preserved".

The company had been going in various guises for 35 years. "We didn't want it to go to rust. I expect the administrator will look for a buyer for the intellectual property assets," Mr Dissel adds.Other former employees also hold out for a phoenix rising from the ashes. But the Valley of Death looms large.