Pictured: Michelangelo Margherita, Head of Trade, Agriculture and the Digital Economy at EUDEL with Christina Sleszynska and Alan Sutin
Thursday March 20, 2025 turned out to be a very EU-centric day for EACC Florida.
At the invitation of the Miami-Dade International Trade Consortium (ITC), Executive Director Christina Sleszynska started the day by participating in a Briefing Session for a group of EU Trade and Economic Counselors on an official two-day visit to Miami led by the Polish Presidency of the European Union.
Austria, Croatia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia and the EU Delegation in Washington DC were represented.
The Briefing Session was hosted by the Miami Dade International Trade Consortium (ITC) at Government Center and included presentations from Miami Dade Aviation Department, Select Florida, EACC Florida and the Beacon Council and was followed by a lively Q&A.
Later that afternoon, EACC Florida was delighted to welcome Michelangelo MARGHERITA, Head of Trade, Agriculture and Digital Economy at the EU Delegation (EUDEL) for a Members and Invitation-Only Industry Briefing hosted by Greenberg Traurig.
Our guest-speaker offered insights into some of the key developments around trade negotiations between the US and the EU followed by an engaged exchange with our audience on the potential short, medium and long-term impacts for companies conducting transatlantic trade and business.
Key insights include:
✅ The European Union (EU) and the United States are each other’s largest trading partners in terms of goods and services. They also have the world’s largest bilateral investment relationship supporting millions of jobs on both sides of the Atlantic.
✅ The total bilateral trade in goods and services reached around $1.7 trillion) in 2023, and a combined investment stock of nearly $5 trillion.
✅ Together, the European Union (EU) and the United States also form the largest consumer market in the world. The EU has a market of over 450M consumers and the US a market of approximately 330M.
✅ A 25% tariff on select metals from the EU is already in effect and a 25% tariff on other EU goods is under review.
✅ The US is also threatening a 200% tariff on alcoholic beverages.
✅ The EU is evaluating tariffs on US goods which would take effect mid-April as well as its overall strategy.
✅ It is also negotiating trade agreements with a number of countries such as India, Japan and Mercosur and will be “de-risking” its trade relationship with China rather than “de-coupling” from it.
Many questions on what will happen next remain with some answers on April 2nd.
