German-owned companies stretch out across the United States, from coast to coast, north to south and almost everywhere in between. According to the US State Department, American affiliates of German firms employ around 900,000 US workers.
Germany is the one of the biggest providers of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the United States. The German-US business relationship is one of the strongest and most enduring of any two countries in the world. But the Biden administration’s decision to reinstate and persist with stringent pandemic travel restrictions on EU citizens is frustrating German business leaders.
Last week, the German Mechanical Engineering Industry Association (VDMA), which represents the country’s machinery manufacturing industry, sent a letter to the US embassy in Berlin urging the country to allow its citizens to travel more easily across the Atlantic.
“Business travel to the USA must once again be possible without restrictions. The US government is currently locking out European business travelers,” Ulrich Ackermann, the VDMA’s foreign trade specialist, said in a statement. “It is incomprehensible that the Schengen states are still classified as high-risk areas by the United States.”
Rough ride for business travelers
Back in March 2020 in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump introduced restrictions barring Europeans from traveling to the US. He lifted them before he left office, but President Joe Biden reinstated them swiftly.
The EU had similar rules but since mid-June this year, US travelers have been able to travel relatively easily to the Schengen area again due to high vaccination rates and low coronavirus case numbers.
There are exceptions to the US ban. American citizens and green card holders can travel. Others may qualify for a National Interest Exception (NIE) if they are deemed to be working in…