BERLIN, July 18 (Reuters) - Any tariff agreement between the United States and the European Union will be "asymmetrical," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Friday.

"If the service sector were included, the trade balance between America and Europe would look very different - but the American government won't accept that," Merz said during his first-ever summer press conference after 70 days in office.

"So we have to be prepared to have an asymmetrical tariff agreement, but once again with the lowest possible rates on both sides," he added.

(Reporting by Sarah Marsh and Rachel More, Writing by Friederike Heine, Editing by Miranda Murray)

((friederike.heine@thomsonreuters.com;))