At annual conference of the trade associations of plastics and rubber machinery, waste and recycling technology, EMINT, and the project group for hybrid lightweight technologies, Ulrich Ackermann, Head of VDMA Foreign Trade, addressed the geopolitical changes and their impact on the mechanical engineering industry: "The globalisation of the world economy is coming under increasing pressure. China is placing its focus on autonomy, resulting in knock-on effects for the European mechanical engineering industry, and in the US, the Biden administration has continued the "national approach" of the Trump government's trade policy in recent years. As a result, the world is heading towards a new bipolar world order." For the European mechanical engineering industry, this means the need to have its own production facilities in large target markets and being able to offer market-specific products. Many plastics and rubber machinery manufacturers have already adapted in that regard.
