By Stefano Mallia, President of the Employers' Group

Donald Trump has won the US elections and will become President for the second time. The vote is clear and must be treated with respect. But what now?

The EU and US remain key geopolitical and trading partners as our relationship is grounded in the principle of reciprocity. There is no room for isolationism or protectionism in today’s interconnected world, as such approaches undermine our mutual and global cooperation and economic prosperity.

The EU and the US are each other’s largest trading partners. EU-US bilateral trade is at a historical high, with over EUR 1.6 trillion in 2023 and with bilateral investment stocks topping EUR 5 trillion. The US is a major source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the EU, with US FDI in Europe estimated at around USD 3.6 trillion, while EU investment in the US is approximately USD 3 trillion. This mutual investment strengthens economic interdependence and creates millions of jobs on both sides of the Atlantic.

For this reason, it is important to continue working on our relationship. The imposition of tariffs on EU goods, as Trump has previously suggested, implementing tariffs of 10% to 20% on imports from all countries, including the EU, is a dead-end street. This is why we are calling for a more open dialogue and a forward-looking agenda for cooperation.

The EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC) has facilitated dialogue on critical issues such as artificial intelligence and semiconductors. If on the one hand the dialogue must be strengthened and upgraded, on the other the EU must speed up its policy reforms, get its act together and look for the best way to find ways to cooperate with the US.

We must also prepare for the scenario in which, on important matters such as climate change and Ukraine, we may have to go it alone. This is a very real possibility and, as such, we should begin treating it as the de facto new reality.