The transatlantic economic relations and their outstanding significance for the future of the European and the German economy

Whereas China is increasingly dominating the global merchandize trade landscape, the transatlantic economy has a significant lead regarding the most other im-portant aspects of economic partnership. 

The EU exports almost four times as many services to the US as it does to China. The EU's imports of services from the US are even almost seven times higher than those from China. With 1.4 trillion euros, the sales of the European foreign affiliates in the US are almost four times those in China. US companies generate almost thirteen times more sales in the EU compared to their Chinese competitors. And in terms of research and development, the role of the US in most of the EU member states can hardly be compared with that of China. In Germany, for example, US companies spend seven times more on research and development than their Chinese counterparts. These and other figures confirm the outstanding prerequi-sites for close transatlantic cooperation in the future. 

A common transatlantic approach to shape the global economic order is indispensable, in-cluding dealing with climate policy challenges, China-related issues, technology cooperation and the future of the WTO. Considering the current setting of political power in the US, it is crucial not to let time pass unused but to take advantage of the opportunity to intensify the dialogue and bring forward important topics that received too little attention during the Trump administration and in the wake of the pandemic.