The Center for Transatlantic relations Johns Hopkins University and Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies in cooperation with AmCham EU and Trans-Atlantic Business Council published their Transatlantic Economy 2016 Report, giving an insight into EU-US digital economy, jobs, trade and investment, as well as the US state-by-state and the EU country-by-country commercial activities comparison.

Together the U.S. and Europe accounted for only 25%of global exports and 30%of global imports in 2014. But together they accounted for 70% of the outward stock and 60% of the inward stock of global FDI. Moreover, each partner has built up the great majority of that stock in the other economy. Mutual investment in the North Atlantic space is very large, dwarfs trade, and has become essential to U.S. and European jobs and prosperity.

Also, foreign investment and affiliate sales drive transatlantic trade. 60% of U.S. imports from the EU consisted of intrafirm trade in 2014 - much higher than U.S. intra-firm imports from Pacific Rim countries (43%) and South/Central America (39%), and well above the global average (50%). Percentages are notably high for Ireland (90.8%) and Germany (70%).

As for the Czech Republic, America’s combined asset base in Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic (roughly $142 billion) was much larger than its asset base in India ($104 billion), for example. Digitally deliverable services have been catalysts for the growth of the internet economy in Europe. 400,000 Europeans are now building apps, and the broader app economy supported 1.8 million European jobs in 2013, contributing €17.5 billion to the EU economy. By 2018, the app economy is projected to employ 4.8 million people and to contribute €63 billion to the EU economy. There were around 19,700 app economy jobs in the Czech Republic (compared with 321, 000 jobs in the UK), the report says.

In terms of competitiveness, Belgium was cited for outstanding health indicators and primary education; France was highlighted for its transport links and energy infrastructure, as well as strengths in quality of education, sophistication of business culture, highly developed financial markets, and leadership in innovation. Estonia, Poland and the Czech Republic were cited for their top notched education system and flexible labor market; Spain’s ranking was hurt by macroeconomic imbalances but scored relatively well in terms of ICT usage. Italy’s labor force remains quite rigid but the nation scored well in terms of producing goods high up in the value chain. Finally, Germany ranked highly across many variables: quality of infrastructure, efficient goods market, R&D.

America’s investment base in the Czech Republic is small but expanding, tripling over the past ten years. U.S. foreign direct investment totaled $7.2 billion in 2014. Value added by U.S.-owned foreign affiliates totaled an estimated $5.7 billion. Estimated affiliate employment in the Czech Republic is among the highest in eastern Europe, with American firms employing an estimated 86,904 workers in 2014, double the number of employees in 2000. On the contrary, the Czech Republic’s investment in the U.S. is still rather small.

U.S. imports from the Czech Republic were $3.7 billion in 2014, a increase of roughly 12% from 2013, accounting for 12.8% of the Czech Republic’s extraEU exports. U.S. imports consist of machinery and transportation equipment and manufactured goods. Czech imports from the U.S. increased by 26% to $2.4 billion in 2014, or 6.9% of Czech’s extra-EU imports.

Read the report (in English).