US firms in Europe broadly see stable transatlantic ties a year on from trade deal

By Philip Blenkinsop

BRUSSELS, July 27 (Reuters) – A majority of U.S. companies operating in Europe now expect stable transatlantic trade and investment relations, a marked improvement from their view in 2025, according to a survey published on Monday.

The American Chamber of Commerce of the European Union (AmCham EU), which has more than 160 members, including Apple, Goldman Sachs and ExxonMobil, said 51% of those surveyed expect stable relations in the next 12 months.

Published a year after the European Union and the United States struck a trade deal, 21% of respondents saw improvement in the future and 28% predicted worsening relations.

In a similar survey in late September last year about US President Donald Trump’s return to office in January 2025, 46 percent of respondents expected relations to deteriorate, while 89 percent were pessimistic.

AmCham AB CEO Malte Lohan said the latest survey, conducted between 6 and 20 July, showed that the EU-US agreement had largely achieved its objectives.

“Businesses see a more stable transatlantic relationship and have so far avoided the kind of escalation that many feared,” he said.

The European Commission last week cautiously welcomed new US tariffs after a 10% global tariff expired, saying the outcome was compatible with the trade deal.

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop, editing by Andrei Khalip)