Effects of the new US administration on companies in Germany

A third of all companies surveyed assume that there will be major competitive disadvantages due to higher energy costs. 28 per cent expect a weaker global economy to have a strong impact on their own trading activities. One tenth of the companies from all economic sectors surveyed believe that a protectionist US tariff policy would severely restrict sales and 22 per cent believe that this would be the case to a moderate extent. Problems in their own supply chains or in production and company cooperation are not expected at a macroeconomic level. The proportion of companies that expect the new US administration's confrontational economic and foreign policy to have a strong impact is significantly higher in German manufacturing industry than in the service or construction sectors. Around 40 per cent of manufacturing companies expect strong competitive effects from energy costs and 22 per cent from laxer environmental standards in the United States. A good third of manufacturing companies expect sales restrictions due to a weaker global economy as a result of global trade distortions. In addition, 17 per cent of manufacturing companies expect that the subsidisation of US companies by the Trump administration and the announced and potential protectionist tariff policy of the USA will have a significant impact on their own trade and sales opportunities.