American Businesses active in the EU support a deal as comprehensive and ambitious as possible, reflecting the strong ties which currently underpin the EU-UK relationship. In their opinion, a Canada-style deal would not be enough. They also reject any third cliff-edge scenario at the end of 2020.
According to a recent report published by the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU, American companies are heavily integrated in the EU and UK economies. They have built complex supply chains running across Member States, with a quarter of US foreign direct investment in the EU going to the UK. A significant change to the current economic and political relationship between the UK and the EU could seriously disrupt their business.
In terms of regulatory alignment and cooperation, the report calls for divergence to be kept to a minimum and instead asks for continued regulatory convergence across industrial sectors. Significant divergence would result in substantial additional compliance costs and red tape, affecting companies, SMEs in particular, and citizens. It also states that the current EU rules are often de facto global standards to which they have already adapted.
On chemicals, they suggest the UK should obtain associate membership of ECHA and continue having access to its database. It is suggested the UK should stay as close to REACH developments as possible, to avoid damaging divergences in standards and in product development. A lack of harmonisation would result in higher costs and longer lead times, and therefore fewer products would be available on the market.
American Chamber of Commerce to the EU, recommendations on the future EU-UK partnership