The Big Question: What will it mean for Europe if Trump’s tariffs resume?

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The Big Question: What will it mean for Europe if Trump’s tariffs resume?  “There is way too much at stake in this relationship to let that be damaged,” pleads the CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU.   READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/04/28/the-big-question-what-will-it-mean-for-europe-if-trumps-tariffs-resume  Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages

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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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