Business Relations

Bavaria’s relationship with the United States runs long and deep. Today we share intensive bilateral relations, with our businesses and thus our economies being increasingly intertwined.

Trade and Investment

With an export value of 28.5 billion, the USA is Bavaria’s most important export country in 2023 and ranked sixth in terms of imports with 13.7 billion euros in the same year. There was therefore an export surplus of 14.8 billion euros in goods trade with the USA in 2023. 

In 2021, almost a third of all Bavarian direct investments abroad were made in the USA, totaling 94.4  billion euros. The book value of American investments in Bavaria was more than six billion euros in the same year.

Companies based in Bavaria include Google, General Electric, AGCO, MSD Sharpe & Dohme, Microsoft and Amazon.

Siemens, Allianz, Adidas, BMW and Linke are examples of Bavarian companies in the USA.

Research and Technology Connections

With more than 350 university partnerships, there are many formal and informal research connections between the US and Bavaria. For example, in 2000, Bavaria formed the Bavaria California Technology Center to foster joint research of Bavarian and Californian universities in the areas of life sciences, environmental technologies, information and communication technology and mechatronics. Fraunhofer and Max Planck are also active in the US, thereby gaining access to a broader range of scientific expertise and facilitating technology transfer between the US and Germany, bilaterally. 

Cultural Exchanges

The relationship between Bavaria and the US is not just about business. There are also educational and cultural exchanges, via the Hanns Seidel Foundation and the BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt as well as 33 sister city partnerships between Bavaria and US cities. To name a few:

  • Augsburg with Dayton, Ohio
  • Coburg with Garden City, New York
  • Hof with Ogden, Utah
  • Regensburg with Tempe, Arizona