site.btaRound Table on Trade Partnership Opportunities for Bulgaria and the US

A round table dedicated to the opportunities for trade partnerships of Bulgarian companies with the US Commercial Service and the American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria was held in Varna on Wednesday.

“US investors are interested in Bulgaria,” the CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria, Ivan Mihaylov, said. Bulgaria offers good opportunities in the field of artificial intelligence, energy, including the expansion of the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant, and defence, he added. “Even in just these three areas, there are excellent opportunities for talks with the US,” Mihaylov said.

With regard to the protective tariffs affecting nearly all goods imported into the United States, he pointed out that the 90-day pause announced by Washington is still in effect and intensive talks are being held. “The position of the American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria has always been that bilateral dialogue should be sought,” Mihaylov emphasized and added that the EU’s joint efforts are also very important.

Mihaylov said that tariffs are a tool for negotiations, adding that although the European economy is much weaker than the Chinese one, the EU should not stand passively. The transatlantic economy, the trade exchange between the European Union and the United States is USD 9.5 trillion in 2024 and cannot be ignored, Mihaylov pointed out. He added that Bulgaria is doing quite well, as its trade exchange with the United States reached USD 1.5 billion last year. According to Mihaylov, Bulgaria exports electronic components, metals, components for the automotive industry, and medicines overseas.

“We should not forget that in the global economy, a product is not produced in one place from start to finish,” the head of the chamber also pointed out. According to him, the big question is how much accumulated tariffs will one product have, once it has crossed several borders.

The policy of attracting investments to the US is not something new, Mihaylov also said. He recalled that America is very seriously criticizing the EU for its regulations and generally for the conditions for doing business in Europe. “Over-regulation, high labour costs, demographic problems are not good prerequisites for investment interest,” Mihaylov pointed out. However, the number of American companies operating in the EU and Bulgaria is substantial and they continue to grow, the expert added.

Mihaylov also said that "it is very important for Europe not to open its doors to China at the moment." In his words, this would pose a risk, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises.