Quelles seront les conséquences pour l'Europe de la reprise des droits de douane imposés par Trump ?
« L'enjeu de cette relation est bien trop important pour qu'elle en pâtisse », plaide le PDG de la Chambre de commerce américaine auprès de l'UE.
LIRE L’ARTICLE : http://fr.euronews.com/2025/04/28/quelles-seront-les-consequences-pour-leurope-de-la-reprise-des-droits-de-douane-imposes-pa
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« L'enjeu de cette relation est bien trop important pour qu'elle en pâtisse », plaide le PDG de la Chambre de commerce américaine auprès de l'UE.
LIRE L’ARTICLE : http://fr.euronews.com/2025/04/28/quelles-seront-les-consequences-pour-leurope-de-la-reprise-des-droits-de-douane-imposes-pa
Abonnez-vous à notre chaine. Euronews est disponible sur Dailymotion en 12 langues
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NewsTranscription
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 topics on the business news agenda.
00:29And today I'm joined by Malta Lohan, the CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU.
00:36Malta, it's an absolute pleasure to have you with us on the show.
00:39Thank 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.
00:47But first of all, for those who don't know, can you just explain exactly what the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU actually does?
00:55Of course, the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU is the group that represents American businesses in Europe.
01:01So we have 160 member companies across all different sectors, goods, services, with one thing in common,
01:08which is for decades, in some cases 100 plus years, deeply invested in Europe.
01:12And our role is to help the EU build an economy that is competitive, that generates return on investment,
01:20and to help build bridges across the Atlantic and strengthen 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 represent this partnership?
01:36This is simply the biggest, most integrated economic partnership in the world by some margin.
01:43It's an economy that is worth 8 trillion euros for comparison.
01:49That's the equivalent of the French and German economies combined.
01:5216 million direct jobs depending on that transatlantic economy.
01:58That's a third of global GDP that is represented by our two economies combined.
02:04We are each other's biggest source of foreign direct investment.
02:08More than 56% of American FDI goes to Europe.
02:13A similar measure of European FDI goes to the US.
02:17And so not just is it a source of growth and profits for businesses on both sides of the Atlantic,
02:25but it's actually also a shared base on which we compete with the rest of the world.
02:34What impact would it have on the US economy if this relationship diminished?
02:42The economic relationship between Europe and the United States, of course,
02:46is at the heart of our shared prosperity and our shared success also across the world.
02:52Just think of the breakfast cereal on your table, think of the websites you go to online,
02:59think of where you get your petrol or your electricity when you charge your car,
03:04and instantly you will realize that there are plenty of American companies
03:09which are deeply integrated into the fabric of our economy
03:13and which are generating local jobs, local investments, local tax returns.
03:21And that is really the shared value of the relationship,
03:24which goes far beyond the goods flowing across the Atlantic.
03:27And so if we lose some of the access to each other's markets,
03:34it would be a big burden on the profitability of our companies
03:39and it becomes so much harder to compete globally.
03:43And Molta, what's the sentiment among the businesses within your network that you work with day to day?
03:49What 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
04:00is 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.
04:09You are planning to make big, multibillion-euro investments
04:13into your supply chain, into your production facilities,
04:19and you don't know how to calculate the return on those investments
04:23because that calculation changes from one day to the next
04:27with a tariff being imposed or a countermeasure being imposed and taken off again.
04:32And so that creates huge inertia in the marketplace
04:36where investments are being held back
04:38and where other parts of the world that are not facing this level of uncertainty
04:45can accelerate their own innovations and their own investments
04:50and we will have to catch up.
04:51If the tariffs do resume, what will that actually mean for the EU economy as a whole?
04:56This would be really bad news.
04:59It would be really bad news, first of all,
05:01because it would disrupt those closely integrated supply chains
05:06between Europe and the United States.
05:08It would drive up the input costs for companies,
05:11which makes products and services more expensive
05:14for customers and consumers as well.
05:17My big worry is that if we go back to a phase of tariffs and counter-tariffs,
05:25it will start spilling over into other parts of the relationship.
05:29The biggest benefit of our transatlantic relationship is our investments.
05:35If those start to be affected by uncertainty about tariffs
05:41and by a shift away from each other of the two economies,
05:45that would be deeply damaging for both sides.
05:49At least what we can say at this point is that there is space for dialogue.
05:54Now, whether that dialogue is able, within the short space of time available,
05:59to come to a conclusion, I think we still have to see.
06:03And finally, what are your hopes for the future EU-US economic relationship?
06:10These days, I've heard others express a hope which was simply that it doesn't get worse.
06:17To me, that would be a sad state of affairs.
06:20So I would like to think that there is more to hope for than that things don't get worse.
06:26I do think that Europe and the United States still have an enormous shared interest
06:33in working together to address our shared geo-competitive challenges.
06:40I do think that Europe and the United States have both to understand how some of that prosperity
06:49that has been generated through open trade can better be brought to the widest possible part of society.
06:58And I think that this is the moment where Europe also really has the opportunity
07:06to take a leap forward in terms of addressing barriers in the single market
07:12and creating a more competitive region for businesses to thrive in
07:19and to see a return on their investment.
07:22Sometimes it takes a jolt, and that is certainly what we are facing.
07:26If that is the outcome of this jolt, I think that is a good outcome for Europe as well.
07:31That is incredibly insightful, everything you've shared with us there.
07:36So thank you very much for joining us on The Big Question
07:39and for sharing all of your insights with us.
07:40It's been a pleasure.
07:41Thanks for having me, Angela. Pleasure to be here.
07:43Thank you very much. Please do head over to the Euronews website
07:46and check out the rest of our shows. They're all there.
07:50And also you can go to the Euronews YouTube channel
07:52and you'll find all the big questions there too.