EU ambassador talks about hiring in Northeast Philly, Trump’s tariffs, and Pa. natural gas

When Jovita Neliupšienė, the European Union’s ambassador to the United States, visited a helicopter manufacturer based in Northeast Philly this month, she emphasized the power of the trans-Atlantic connection: Leonardo, which is based in Italy and currently employs nearly 1,000 locals, is among the European companies that have big investments here, and it’s hiring.

The EU, a 27-nation bloc, is the United States’ largest trade and investment partner, though tariff wars, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the rising power of China have stressed the relationship.

The ambassador and her EU delegation visited Leonardo on Jan. 22, meeting there with Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, who’s been visiting private employers around the city as a special commission considers cuts to business and labor taxes.

Leonardo has expanded several times since predecessor AgustaWestland built the first part of the plant at its maintenance site near Northeast Philadelphia Airport in 2005. It manufactures AW-119 (one-engine) and AW-139 (two-engine) helicopters for the U.S. Navy, Air Force, police, energy, and VIP transport services.

Ambassador Neliupšienė answered The Inquirer’s questions about the war in Ukraine, President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs, and Pennsylvania-produced natural gas. Her comments have been edited for clarity and brevity.

Pennsylvania is so diverse. It is a good state to observe and talk to people in the local communities.

People in Pennsylvania are very open about where they stand, what are their expectations, for European, trade, foreign policy. This openness gives us hope that people will see the value of our cooperating.

One of the most important things for me is to show by very concrete examples how the EU and U.S. cooperate. Our trade and investment gives benefits for the people.

My goal is to remind you what we have invested and how tight the relationships are, and not only for businesses.

In addition to Leonardo, in every sector — from pharmaceuticals to engineering machinery — you find Europeans. European companies have invested over $70 billion in Pennsylvania, in companies such as Siemens Healthineers, and buy $20 billion in goods and services from Pennsylvania each year. We have counted that some 250,000 people in Pennsylvania are employed because of European trade and investment.

We have a war at our borders. For Lithuania and the other Baltic countries, for Poland and the Czech Republic, the war is very close. You can feel it in your skin.

Lithuania is a success story for the U.S. and EU. The U.S. never recognized [the 1940-90 Soviet takeover of] Lithuania. It gave us hope. But when we got independence, we had a much lower level of development. We‘ve quadrupled our GDP since then. Our standard of living is now higher than the EU average.

Lithuania now makes satellites for European communications. We are one of the few countries that can make solar panels that compete with China’s.

This is thanks to NATO and our security guarantees. Without NATO, it would be difficult to attract investment.

I hope tariffs are only a last-resort tool, not the primary one. There are lots of opportunities to embrace our trade relations without going into tariffs. There are huge supply chains that extend into both the U.S. and Europe. We are part of the same security community. We are trusted partners. It should be easy to both do business and also guard our technologies.

We in Europe are the biggest customer of LNG [liquefied natural gas] from the United States. We are improving the technology.

We are security partners; we understand geopolitical challenges and security guarantees. We met last year with congresspeople and their office directors.

My country, Lithuania, has said we will be spending more than 5% [of gross national product] on self-defense. [The U.S. spends around 3.5%.]

We will continue to be the trusted U.S. partner in trade, investment, security — from pharmaceuticals to agricultural technology from space to machinery and engineering.

Did you know your Pennsylvania National Guard is in Lithuania? They are based between Vilnius, our capital, and Kaunas, the former capital.

For both, I am sure!