By Anton Troianovski 

MUNICH--German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday pushed back against the Trump administration's criticism of Germany's big trade surplus, saying she could do nothing about the euro's valuation.

She said that while the eurozone has a "valuation problem" because of the diversity of its members' economies, the German trade surplus had a variety of causes beyond the exchange rate.

"The European Central Bank makes monetary policy aimed not at Germany but aimed all the way from Portugal to Slovenia," Ms. Merkel said in response to a question at the Munich Security Conference. "This surely means that if we still had the Deutsche mark, the Deutsche mark would be valued differently than the euro is currently. But this is an independent currency policy that I have zero influence on as chancellor of the federal republic of Germany."

President Donald Trump criticized Germany's trade policy in an interview just before he took office, highlighting the large number of Mercedes cars on Fifth Avenue. "It's gotta be a two-way street," Mr. Trump said in the January interview.

Peter Navarro, the head of Mr. Trump's National Trade Council, has said German exporters have an unfair advantage because of the euro's weak valuation.

Asked about those issues after her remarks in Munich on Saturday, just before Vice President Mike Pence delivered his speech, Ms. Merkel highlighted the large number of American electronics carried by conference participants.

"If you look around and see how many iPhones and Apple products are in play here in the hall, then the vice president should be content," Ms. Merkel said. "Fifth Avenue is, I think, still decorated with fewer German cars."

Germany's trade surplus--or the balance of exports and imports of goods--rose to EUR252.9 billion ($270.58 billion) last year, marking the highest surplus since records began after World War II. Total exports of goods rose 1.2% from 2015, while imports increased just 0.6%.

The U.S. imported $114 billion in goods from Germany last year, compared with $49 billion in exports from the U.S. to Germany.

Ms. Merkel said her government would also highlight Germany's growing older population in talks with U.S. officials.

"We will experience one of the greatest demographic changes in the world, after Japan, in the next 20 years," Ms. Merkel said. "This also leads to certain spending and saving behavior in the German public that also has something to do with the trade surplus."

Write to Anton Troianovski at anton.troianovski@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 18, 2017 06:32 ET (11:32 GMT)