Episode 146: European Manufacturing and Global Trade
Bertram Kawlath
VDMA
Bertram Kawlath, born in 1970, studied history in London and Erlangen and completed an MBA in Switzerland. This was followed by professional positions in industry, as managing director and supervisory board member of Eisenwerk Erla GmbH (2004 to 2010) and as managing partner of Schubert & Salzer Feinguss Lobenstein GmbH (2010 to 2023). Since 2004, Bertram Kawlath has been managing partner of the Schubert & Salzer Group, headquartered in Ingolstadt (Bavaria).
The company's core business areas are the development, production and distribution of innovative solutions in measurement and control technology for flowing and gaseous media, as well as the development of customized ERP systems for medium-sized manufacturing companies.
Bertram Kawlath has been active for the VDMA for many years. He has been a member of the board of the VDMA's Bavarian regional subsidiary since 2011 and has been its chairman from 2021 to 2024.
In 2013, Bertram Kawlath became a member of the VDMA's Main Board. In 2020, Bertram Kawlath was elected VDMA Vice President. In October 2024, Bertram Kawlath was elected VDMA President. He is also a member of the board of trustees of the VDMA Impuls Foundation.
Photo credit: VDMA/Salome Roessler
Jeff Rathke
President of AGI
Jeffrey Rathke is the President of the American-German Institute in Washington, DC.
Prior to joining AGI, Jeff was a senior fellow and deputy director of the Europe Program at CSIS, where his work focused on transatlantic relations and U.S. security and defense policy. Jeff joined CSIS in 2015 from the State Department, after a 24-year career as a Foreign Service Officer, dedicated primarily to U.S. relations with Europe. He was director of the State Department Press Office from 2014 to 2015, briefing the State Department press corps and managing the Department's engagement with U.S. print and electronic media. Jeff led the political section of the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur from 2011 to 2014. Prior to that, he was deputy chief of staff to the NATO Secretary General in Brussels. He also served in Berlin as minister-counselor for political affairs (2006–2009), his second tour of duty in Germany. His Washington assignments have included deputy director of the Office of European Security and Political Affairs and duty officer in the White House Situation Room and State Department Operations Center.
Mr. Rathke was a Weinberg Fellow at Princeton University (2003–2004), winning the Master’s in Public Policy Prize. He also served at U.S. Embassies in Dublin, Moscow, and Riga, which he helped open after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Mr. Rathke has been awarded national honors by Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, as well as several State Department awards. He holds an MPP degree from Princeton University and BA and BS degrees from Cornell University. He speaks German, Russian, and Latvian.
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Peter S. Rashish
Vice President; Director, Geoeconomics Program
Peter S. Rashish, who counts over 30 years of experience counseling corporations, think tanks, foundations, and international organizations on transatlantic trade and economic strategy, is Vice President and Director of the Geoeconomics Program at AICGS. He also writes The Wider Atlantic blog.
Mr. Rashish has served as Vice President for Europe and Eurasia at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where he spearheaded the Chamber’s advocacy ahead of the launch of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. Previously, Mr. Rashish was a Senior Advisor for Europe at McLarty Associates, Executive Vice President of the European Institute, and a staff member and consultant at the International Energy Agency, the World Bank, UN Trade and Development, the Atlantic Council, the Bertelsmann Foundation, and the German Marshall Fund.
Mr. Rashish has testified before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on International Monetary Policy and Trade and the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe and Eurasia and has advised three U.S. presidential campaigns. He has been a featured speaker at the Munich Security Conference, the Aspen Ideas Festival, and the European Forum Alpbach and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Jean Monnet Institute in Paris and a Senior Advisor to the European Policy Centre in Brussels. His commentaries have been published in The New York Times, the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, and The National Interest, and he has appeared on PBS, CNBC, CNN, NPR, and the BBC.
He earned a BA from Harvard College and an MPhil in international relations from Oxford University. He speaks French, German, Italian, and Spanish.
German industry is facing headwinds: a sluggish domestic economy, instability in the transatlantic trade relationship, and unfair global trade practices. Bertram Kawlath, the president of Europe’s largest industrial association (VDMA), joins The Zeitgeist to assess trends in the global economy that are impacting European manufacturers. He discusses what Germany and the European Union are doing to boost competitiveness and economic security and how companies are adapting to artificial intelligence.
Host
Jeff Rathke, President, AGI
Guests
Bertram Kawlath, President, European Machinery Association (VDMA)
Peter Rashish, Vice President and Director, Geoeconomics Program, AGI
