Reference News Network February 12 report: According to the website of German newspaper "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" on February 8, the unpredictable tariffs and economic policies of US President Trump are affecting German small and medium-sized enterprises. Their interest in doing business in the US has sharply declined, even turning negative. A survey of small and medium-sized enterprises to be released by the German Central Cooperative Bank confirms this.

The survey shows that currently only 9% of companies believe that the US will play a more important role in their supply chains over the next five years. In contrast, 19% of companies expect the US to become less important. After offsetting positive and negative opinions, the net difference is -10 percentage points.

However, in the spring of 2022, when the German Central Cooperative Bank first conducted a related survey of small and medium-sized enterprises, the result was still +8 percentage points. In the bank's years of surveys, no country has experienced such a sharp decline in popularity. In terms of net difference, the current interest of companies in US business is as low as their interest in investments in Ukraine or Russia. Klaus Nigge, an economist at the German Central Cooperative Bank, wrote that the willingness of almost all industries and sizes of companies to include the US in their supply chains has decreased.

The above survey results are supported by the analysis of the German Institute for Economic Research. The analysis shows that during the first ten months of President Trump's term, the amount of investment by German companies in the US fell by 45% compared to the same period last year. Direct investment dropped from nearly 19 billion euros to 10.2 billion euros.

Aside from the sharp decline in confidence in the US market, the survey by the German Central Cooperative Bank also shows that small and medium-sized enterprises are refocusing on the domestic market. More than half of the companies plan to increase sales in Germany and purchase more within Germany and the EU. Over 40% of companies hope to shift their sales and procurement focus to the local and regional markets. According to the survey, Western Europe and Central and Eastern European countries remain the most important target countries for securing supply chains.

The survey shows that only 12% of companies were directly affected by Trump's tariffs. However, 44% of companies said that the tariffs affected their customers and suppliers, thereby indirectly affecting their own businesses. The most severely affected sectors were the electrical industry, metal, automotive and machinery manufacturing, as well as the chemical industry.

23% of the surveyed German small and medium-sized enterprises said that the US's volatile trade policies increased the uncertainty of business planning. In the metal, automotive and machinery manufacturing industries, 40% of companies complained about increased uncertainty. The survey conducted by the German Central Cooperative Bank in the autumn of last year covered 1,000 companies. However, the recent disputes around Greenland have not yet been reflected in the survey results. (Translated by Jiao Yu)

Original: toutiao.com/article/7605906228443398682/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author himself.