Austria's trade is booming: USA as a key partner for investments!

Austria's trade is booming: USA as a key partner for investments!

On June 4, 2025, a comprehensive study on transatlantic trade relations between Austria and the USA was presented by AmCham and Accenture. This work was created in cooperation with the renowned economic research institute Economica. The results show that the USA is not only a sales market, but also an important investment market for Austria. The export market to the USA grew in 2024, and US companies accounted for 2.5% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in Austria. The USA remains the country's second largest trading partner.

The export volume to the USA rose from 14.7 billion euros in the previous year to 16.2 billion euros. This leads to an increase in the US share of all Austrian exports from 7.4% to 8.5%. For more than 20 years, Austria has also had a positive trade balance with a surplus of 8.5 billion euros. Particularly noteworthy is the increase in exports of services, which climbed from 1.3 billion euros in 2000 to 3.4 billion euros in 2024.

Trade balance and investments

However, the study also shows that Austria has a trade deficit in the services sector, primarily due to US exports in financial services as well as legal and economic services. Austrian corporations invested an impressive 23.7 billion euros in the USA in 2024. At the same time, foreign direct investment (FDI) from the USA in Austria amounts to 16.8 billion euros.

Regarding tariffs, the study reports that Austria generates 148 million euros in tariff revenue from US imports, which corresponds to an average tariff rate of 1.88%. On the other hand, the USA receives 188 million euros from imports from Austria with an average tariff rate of 1.05%. It is already clear that the EU levies higher tariff rates than the USA in many product categories.

Effects of customs policy

However, US tariff policies could have a significant negative impact on EU companies. As DIW explains, not only direct exporters are affected, but also companies that supply raw materials, components or services to exporting companies. Simulations show that a flat tariff of 25% on EU goods could reduce exports to the US by half in the long term. Key sectors such as pharmaceuticals, transportation equipment and electronics would be particularly hard hit.

This could cause the EU's real GDP to fall by an average of 0.25%. Germany could see a decline of around 0.33%. To mitigate this economic damage, it is recommended to deepen trade relations with other free trade partners such as Canada, Mexico, Japan and South Korea in order to reduce dependence on US demand.

In the European political context, transatlantic relations have been debated since Donald Trump's re-election in November 2024. The impact of these tariffs was the focus of a debate in the European Parliament on February 12, 2025, where leading MEPs stressed the importance of continuing cooperation. Maroš Šefčovič, a member of the European Commission, criticized the US tariffs as harmful to businesses and consumers, while Bernd Lange raised the possibility of counter-tariffs to hedge against potential impacts.

In addition, the importance of open and fair international trade is emphasized. Adam Szłapka, Polish Minister for European Affairs, called on EU members to support a rules-based trade policy. These challenges highlight the need for a new free trade agreement between the EU and the US to put trade relations on a more stable basis and protect the economic interests of both partners.