Lhermitte said that during the same time period, American investors were spooked by geopolitical tensions, spiking energy costs and sluggish growth.
The coronavirus pandemic and the rise of energy prices set off by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have plunged Europe in period of industrial decline.
“A region with no growth during three years is exhausting,” Lhermitte said.
The situation is likely to get worse, especially with Trump’s threat to raise across-the-board tariffs on European goods from 10 percent to 20 percent as he seeks to convince foreign companies to produce more goods in the United States.
“Companies tell us that this is a major reason for concern,” said Lhermitte.
Many of the surveyed companies agreed with Mario Draghi’s call for massive private and public investment to help Europe compete with China and the U.S..