Europe and the United States of America are two super powers in terms of business and economics. Working together there is potential for growth and development seen from both sides of the Atlantic. Here are some facts and figures concerning trade and investment between the two continents.

Largest trade partners

The EU and US form the largest bilateral trade partnership in the world if you look at goods and services combined. Goods trade alone in 2007 amounted to over €440 billion.

A trade surplus

The EU enjoys a surplus of €80 billion in goods trade with the US, importing €181 billion while exporting €261 billion. While the US remains the first destination for EU goods, the EU now imports more from China. EU trade with the USA is dominated by manufactured goods. In 2007, more than two-fifths of trade with the USA were machinery and vehicles, with chemicals and other manufactured each accounting for more than a fifth of trade.

Services trade

Trade in services continued to grow in both directions, with total trade estimated at more than €266 billion. Again the EU recorded a surplus (€11 billion).

Largest investment partners

The European Union (EU) and United States are each other’s largest foreign investor. In 2006, the stock of EU direct investment in the United States reached $1.11 trillion, accounting for almost half of the total stock of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the United States. In 2007, EU investment represented 42 percent of global investment flows to the United States. The transatlantic investment relationship is also symmetrical: in 2006, the U.S. stock of FDI in the EU totaled $1.12 trillion. In 2007, over half of all private direct investment outflows from the United States were directed to the EU.

Millions of jobs in the United States

Of the more than 5 million Americans employed in the United States by foreign companies in 2005, 3.5 million (58 percent) worked for EU companies. With a payroll of $194 billion, EU companies on average paid U.S. workers 18 percent more than workers were paid at other U.S. firms.

Millions of jobs in Europe

Likewise, in 2005, majority-owned U.S. affiliates employed 3.9 million workers in the EU, and support a total payroll of $203 billion.

Stronger and more competitive economies

• Innovation: In 2005, EU-owned firms in the United States spent nearly $20 billion on R&D. U.S.-owned firms in the EU spent over $18 billion (64 percent of global U.S. affiliate expenditures on R&D)
• Productivity/Capital Expenditures: In 2005, EU-owned firms in the United States produced $311 billion in goods and services, and expended almost $60 billion on plant and equipment. U.S.-owned firms in the EU produced $434 billion in goods and services and expended $46 billion on plant and equipment.
• Exports: EU-owned firms in the United States contributed more than $85 billion to U.S. exports in 2005.