Press releases

44 percent of manufacturing companies in Germany expect a negative impact on their business if Donald Trump is elected US President instead of Kamala Harris, as shown by an ifo Institute survey of 2,000 German manufacturing companies from September 2024. For around 51 percent, it makes no difference whether Trump or Harris wins the election. Only 5 percent expect positive effects from a Trump election.

If Donald Trump wins the US presidential election, German exports to the United States could fall by 14.9 percent. German car exports to the United States would be particularly hard hit, down 32 percent, as would pharmaceutical exports, down 35 percent. German exports to China could decline by almost 9.6 percent overall. This has been shown by simulations by the ifo Institute and EconPol Europe in the event that Trump implements his election campaign promises to introduce new tariffs.

EU funding policy for poorer regions lacks clearly defined objectives and uniform standards for evaluating the programs. That is because the evaluations are commissioned by national or regional administrative authorities that have an interest in proving the success of their programs. This reduces the credibility of the success monitoring.

The ifo Institute proposes work visa agreements between the EU and safe third countries as a way to reduce the number of asylum applications and irregular immigration. “This would enable legal and controlled immigration. One reason the European asylum system is overloaded is the lack of opportunities to enter the EU legally. Especially for low-skilled people, the chances of obtaining work visas in Europe are vanishingly small,” says Panu Poutvaara, Director of the ifo Center for International Institutional Comparisons and Migration Research.  

Joint energy and climate action policy in the EU could save European countries EUR 248 billion between 2024 and 2050, with Germany alone saving EUR 66 billion. This is according to a study conducted by the ifo Institute in Munich on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Munich and Upper Bavaria to calculate the cost of making Europe climate neutral by 2050. “Having every country in Europe pursue energy climate action policy alone leads to huge additional costs.