Trump win could unsettle European chemicals market, says Cefic
9 Nov 2016
Chemical businesses within the European Union face a short-term period of uncertainty following the election of Donald Trump as US president, says Cefic, the European Chemical Industry Council.
According to Cefic, the US contributed more than 20% of total EU chemical trade in 2015, and is considered the largest EU trading partner for chemicals, bringing in €31.3bn of EU exports, while providing €23.1bn of EU imports last year.
Commenting on the election result, Marco Mensink, Cefic director general, said: “Today we have again woken up in a world that will be different to what most people expected. We have a new US president and, which is important, a Republican majority in both the US house and senate.”
Mensink said it is difficult to judge what the impact of the US vote will be.
“As we saw after Brexit, volatility on markets and uncertainty will prevail in the short term, but the longer term impact has yet to be determined. The uncertainty is the key issue. What we do know is that both climate policy and international trade will operate in a very different environment.”
To minimise the uncertainty, Mensink has advised EU leaders to develop a relationship with Trump as soon as possible and ensure that the partnership, in terms of democracy, security and the economy, continues.
