The AmChams in Europe network, which represents 45 AmChams in 43 countries in Europe and wider Europe, travels every year to Washington, DC to meet with high-level US stakeholders.
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the annual conference took place virtually this year from Monday, 11 May until Wednesday, 27 May.
Executives from over 30 AmChams gathered together to meet with:
The National Economic Council
The US Chamber of Commerce
Fox Radio News
The US Department of State
The Atlantic Council
The US Department of Commerce
The topics of discussion focused on EU-US relations, US elections, US-UK trade as well as on COVID-19 and its influence on the transatlantic relationship. The importance of collaboration and coordination and the need for Chambers to act as bridgebuilders in these challenging times emerged in every discussion.
In each meeting Susan Danger, CEO, AmCham EU and Chair, AmChams in Europe presented a joint statement published by the network in March 2020, calling for solidarity, coordination and action. You can read it here.
We would like to express our gratitude to the AmChams in Europe Secretariat, held by AmCham Slovenia for organising the virtual conference. We would also like to thank all of the stakeholders that participated in the meetings for their flexibility and insights.
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From Monday, 28 September to Thursday, 1 October 2026, AmCham EU led a delegation of members to Washington, DC to bring the views of the business community to policymakers in Congress and the administration. Discussions showed that both sides value the stability the Turnberry framework agreement brings. While parts of the agreement remain to be implemented, meetings pointed to the possibility for cooperation on economic security. Implementation will continue to need dialogue between the two sides, which is expected to carry on after the mid-term elections.
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At RAID 2026, Thibaut L’Ortye, Chief Policy and Public Affairs Officer, AmCham EU joined a panel discussion on EU-US regulatory approaches to technology. Taking place on Tuesday, 29 September 2026, the discussion explored how transatlantic cooperation can focus on shared outcomes rather than identical rulebooks, including on cybersecurity, AI safety, consumer protection and resilient supply chains. Mr L’Ortye also highlighted the wider conditions needed to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness.
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The reform of the Union Customs Code changes who is treated as the ‘importer’ when a non-EU company uses an indirect customs representative. That creates a problem under the EU VAT Directive, which links import VAT deduction to being identified as the importer or consignee. In practice, the non-EU company may no longer meet that requirement, while the customs representative may not qualify for the deduction either.
That could leave import VAT irrecoverable and create uncertainty for businesses using established import models. The Commission should ensure that the non-EU principal can still be identified in customs data for VAT purposes and fix the mismatch between the UCC and the VAT Directive.
Learn more about what changes are needed to keep import VAT deductibility workable under the new customs framework.
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