Michalis Antoniou and Marios Tsiakkis weigh in on the US elections’ potential impact on the Cyprus business scene

Cyprus Employers & Industrialists Federation (OEB) Director General Michalis Antoniou and Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) Secretary General Marios Tsiakkis are confident the island's economy and business world will be able to manage either outcome of today’s US Presidential elections.

The US is going to the polls on 5 November to decide whether Democratic candidate Kamala Harris or Republican candidate Donald Trump will be the next President of the USA.

In comments to CBN, both leading representatives of Cyprus’ business world indicated that they did not anticipate any immediate impact on Cyprus’ economy or professional scene. Looking further ahead, they also noted that any impact would most significantly depend on the successful candidate's policies regarding the US' trade relations with the EU.

While careful to underline that Cyprus’ economy and business scene is fully capable of managing either outcome of the US elections, Antoniou suggested a different ‘menu’ would be created depending on which candidate is elected.

Michalis Antoniou

Antoniou said, “If the Democratic candidate is elected, we do not anticipate significant changes to US relations with Europe and the EU in particular.”

He suggested that efforts to strengthen economic and geopolitical cooperation would continue, noting that both aspects were very important.

“If the Republican candidate is elected, issues may arise from the ‘America First’ rhetoric which prioritises US goods and services,” Antoniou continued, adding this would in turn impact factors such as tariff policies.

He noted that the isolation of an economy as huge as that of the US and the resulting effect on the global economy and defence issues was significant and would mean that the EU would have to move faster on strengthening sectors such as the defence industry while also taking action to ensure smoother trade.

Underlining that either outcome would be manageable for Cyprus, Antoniou said that the results would, however, bring about new conditions and “create a different ‘menu’ in each case.”

On his part, Tsiakkis said he did not anticipate any immediate consequences or impact on Cyprus following the elections.

Marios Tsiakkis

Referring to the ‘Make America Great Again’ approach promoted by the Republican candidate, Tsiakkis noted this also meant that “Trump has his own agenda when it comes to the EU” such as changes to tariffs.

As a result, the impact on Cyprus, as with all members of the EU, would depend on Trump’s policies if elected as President of the USA.

“Harris’ approach would be a little more predictable,” Tsiakkis added.

He went on to underline that as he had mentioned, the impact on Cyprus was not considered to be one of immediate danger, and would depend on the USA’s policies concerning the EU as well as concerning other global powers such as China.

Tsiakkis made it clear that it was up to the people of the USA to elect the candidate they preferred and that “whether the outcome will be beneficial to Cyprus or not is something that will become clear depending on what policies the US will follow" but did express the opinion that "Trump could be considered be a more 'disruptive' President."