00:00This is simply the biggest, most integrated economic partnership in the world.
00:0516 million jobs, the equivalent of the French and German economies combined.
00:10There is way too much at stake in this relationship to let that be damaged.
00:20Welcome to The Big Question, a series from Euronews where we address some of the biggest
00:26topics on the business news agenda. And today I'm joined by Malta Lohan, the CEO of the
00:34American Chamber of Commerce to the EU. Malta, it's an absolute pleasure to have you with
00:39us on the show. Thank you very much for joining us.
00:41Great to be here, Angela. Thank you.
00:42Very timely discussions at the moment. And I imagine you are an incredibly busy man. But
00:47first of all, for those who don't know, can you just explain exactly what the American
00:52Chamber of Commerce to the EU actually does?
00:55Of course, the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU is the group that represents American
01:00businesses in Europe. So we have 160 member companies across all different sectors, goods,
01:05services, with one thing in common, which is for decades, in some cases 100 plus years,
01:11deeply invested in Europe. And our role is to help the EU build an economy that is competitive,
01:18that generates return on investment, and to help build bridges across the Atlantic and
01:24strengthen the partnership that we have between Europe and the United States.
01:27When it comes to the EU-US economic relationship, what are the key figures or metrics that best
01:34represent this partnership?
01:36This is simply the biggest, most integrated economic partnership in the world by some margin.
01:42It's an economy that is worth 8 trillion euros. For comparison, that's the equivalent of the
01:50French and German economies combined. 16 million direct jobs depending on that transatlantic economy.
01:58That's a third of global GDP that is represented by our two economies combined. We are each other's
02:05biggest source of foreign direct investment. More than 56% of American FDI goes to Europe. A similar
02:13measure of European FDI goes to the US. And so not just is it a source of growth and profits for
02:24businesses on both sides of the Atlantic, but it's actually also a shared base on which we compete with
02:30the rest of the world.
02:37What impact would it have on the US economy if this relationship diminished?
02:42The economic relationship between Europe and the United States, of course, is at the heart of our shared
02:48prosperity and our shared success also across the world. Just think of the breakfast cereal on your table,
02:55think of the websites you go to online, think of where you get your petrol or your electricity
03:02when you charge your car, and instantly you will realize that there are plenty of American companies
03:09which are deeply integrated into the fabric of our economy and which are generating local jobs, local
03:18investments, local tax returns. And that is really the shared value of the relationship which goes
03:24far beyond the goods flowing across the Atlantic. And so if we lose some of the access to each
03:33other's markets, it would be a big burden on the profitability of our companies and become so much
03:41harder to compete globally.
03:42And Malta, what's the sentiment among the businesses within your network that you work with day to day?
03:48What are the main concerns now at the moment for them regarding the current situation with the tariffs?
03:54The number one concern that every single company will express is about the level of uncertainty that they're facing.
04:03And just think about the position of a CEO or a CFO in this current context. You are planning to make
04:11big multi-billion euro investments into your supply chain, into your production facilities, and you don't know how to
04:21calculate the return on those investments because that calculation changes from one day to the next with
04:27a tariff being imposed or a countermeasure being imposed and taken off again. And so that creates
04:34huge inertia in the marketplace where investments are being held back and where other parts of the world that
04:42are not facing this level of uncertainty can accelerate their own innovations and their own investments,
04:50and we will have to catch up.
04:50If the tariffs do resume, what will that actually mean for the EU economy as a whole?
04:55This would be really bad news. It would be really bad news first of all because it would disrupt those
05:04closely integrated supply chains between Europe and the United States. It would drive up the input costs
05:11for companies which makes products and services more expensive for customers and consumers as well. My big worry
05:18is that if we go back to a phase of tariffs and counter tariffs, it will start spilling over into other
05:27parts of the relationship. The biggest benefit of our transatlantic relationship is our investments. If those
05:36start to be affected by uncertainty about tariffs and by a shift away from each other of the two economies,
05:46that would be deeply damaging for both sides. At least what we can say at this point is that there is space
05:53for dialogue. Now whether that dialogue is able within the short space of time available to come to a
05:59conclusion, I think we still have to see. And finally, what are your hopes for the future EU-US economic
06:08relationship? These days I've heard others express a hope which was simply
06:14that it doesn't get worse. To me that would be a sad state of affairs. So I would like to think that
06:22there is more to hope for than that things don't get worse. I do think that Europe and the United
06:29States still have an enormous shared interest in working together to address our shared
06:37geo-competitive challenges. I do think that Europe and the United States have both to understand how
06:48some of that prosperity that has been generated through open trade can better be brought to the
06:56widest possible part of society. And I think that this is the moment where Europe also really has the
07:05opportunity to take a leap forward in terms of addressing barriers in the single market
07:13and creating a more competitive region for businesses to thrive in and to see a return on
07:21their investment. Sometimes it takes a jolt and that is certainly what we are facing. If that is the
07:26outcome of this jolt, I think that is a good outcome for Europe as well. That is incredibly
07:32insightful, all of everything you have shared with us there. So thank you very much for joining us on
07:38The Big Question and for sharing all of your insights with us. It has been a pleasure. Thanks for having
07:42me, Angela. Pleasure to be here. Thank you very much. Please do head over to the Euronews website and check
07:47out the rest of our shows. They are all there and also you can go to the Euronews YouTube channel and you will find all
07:54the big questions there too.
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