| AmCham France |
| Before the foundation of AmCham All along the 19th century, France has been importing cotton from the southern states of America like Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee. Trade grew steadily, although more or less perturbed by colonial wars. An investment banking firm, in 1868, Drexel, Harjes &Co established a Paris branch. Later, it was to become J. P. Morgan. |
| American Center France | Isabelle Dubly |
| With trade quickening between France and the United States – it was running at about $100 million annually toward the dawn of the 20th century and rising every year – American businessmen in Paris began to recognize the need for a formal organization to represent their interests. The American Chamber of Commerce in France was close to hatch, Dr Stephen H. Tyng became the first president of the first AmCham abroad. The foundation of Amcham The American Chamber of Commerce was founded 1894 in order to “examine questions concerning the commercial and industrial relations existing between the United States and France”. Thus, it was the oldest US business association overseas. Its stated mission was “to take all measures which may facilitate and protect the transactions of business” between French and American interests and collect information to “facilitate their business operations”. It is a non- profit association registered both in France and the United States. It is accredited by the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington, DC, and is part of the European Council of American Chambers of Commerce and the 106-member worldwide AmCham network. This creation was reported in the Paris edition of the Herald Tribune under the heading “American Chamber of Commerce”. Eleven men were present at the first meeting held at the Grand Hôtel, rue Scribe, in Paris, next to Charles Garnier’s Opera House on June 28, 1894. Among the charter members were Coudert Frères and J P Morgan. On July 4th 1895, the Chamber’s first major banquet, also at the Grand Hotel, was attended by the Foreign minister, the minister of Commerce and Industry, the US Ambassador and Frederic Bartholdi, the sculptor of the Statue of Liberty. The new Chamber was not only the first American Chamber of Commerce abroad; it antedated by 18 years the formation of the United States Chamber of Commerce in Washington, established in 1912. Thirty-nine new members, added to the original eleven in time to be listed as “founding members”, attended the first annual meeting on January 28, 1895. While AmCham France has undergone many changes since 1894, its fundamental mission remains very similar to what its founding fathers defined. (Extracts from the AmCham centennial Celebration book 1884-1984 written by Arthur Higbee) 1894-1994 AmCham highlights Yards or Meters? Since 1896, businessmen, on either side of the Atlantic, were facing many measure-unit problems. On the exceptional opportunity of the Universal Exhibit of 1900 to convince of this foreseeable convenience in case the metric system was adopted, the Chamber printed 500 brochures and handed them over to the representatives of the American Chambers of Commerce, in order to explain the facilitation of their exportations into France. In spite of George Washington’s previous century message insisting on “the great importance of uniformity of weights and measures” and after many unsuccessful attempts to have the metric system adopted, ending with a refusal from Congress in 1916, the subject has no longer been evoked in the AmCham! During World War I, the Chamber set up a special war services committee of 18 members. They met daily to assist Americans and French involved in the war effort. The Chamber opened a temporary office in New York at 14 Wall Street to coordinate war-related activities. Chamber representatives toured American industrial cities to explain French needs for food, medicine and war materiel. And the Chamber, with an initial donation of $1,000 from its own treasury, opened a fund to aid the French war effort. In 1916 the Chamber established an auxiliary office in Bordeaux to expedite shipments from the United States to French ports and thence by rail to distribution point. This auxiliary oversaw supply operations in other French ports, Saint-Nazaire, La Palice, Brest, Le Havre and Marseilles, and coordinated shipments with the French railroads and the U.S. Army supply Services. Publications by AmCham. In 1925, Americans in France, a directory of all American firms appeared and quickly made a profit. After the Second World War, Commerce in France was launched, first as a monthly, in November 1947 and later as a quarterly. The format was part business magazine, part legal and financial bulletin. After World War II, and the Marshall Plan, for the first time, the Chamber promoted not only American goods in France but French goods in the United States, and the establishment of French branches of U.S. companies. The Chamber mounted campaigns to that effect in the late 1940s with such slogans as “Trade, Not Aid,” “France has it” and “France Can Sell in America.” In 1977, under the presidency of Peter Danos, the Chamber helped get permission for the Franco-British supersonic jetliner, the Concorde, to land in New York. The Concorde had been making regular flights to Washington for over a year. But in New York, it was stymied by local opposition. David T. McGovern, president of the Chamber in 1979-82, noted the changing character of the Chamber’s mission as the decade of the 1980s opened: “For years, the Chamber’s role was to facilitate the penetration of American firms in the French market,” he said. This had changed with “the growth of interest by French firms in doing business in all its forms in the United States.” The Chamber concluded that a different type of association would be more appropriate for French executives in this category and in 1984 it created the French Advisory Board. Today several of France’s top executives sit on this board, where they are available to counsel the Chamber on important matters affecting Franco-American business relations. In the 1990s, Executive Director W. Barrett Dower summed up, addressing Chamber members in Commerce in France, “I don’t believe it’s an overstatement to say that the Chamber’s role in resolving some thorny France-U.S. issues over the last century has prevented some outbreaks that might have assumed much more substantial proportions. As a Chamber member, you’re part of the dialogue - and part of the solution.” Mission Today, as in the past, AmCham is France’s primary Franco-American business platform, serving as a forum and representative body for US and French firms, professionals and associations with trans-Atlantic interests. It helps American companies integrate effectively into the French business community, allows French firms to build closer ties with American firms and U.S. authorities and help its members understand the legislative and institutional framework in France, the U.S. and the European Union. Through strategic partnerships with similar organizations, AmCham has become a nexus for organizations promoting trans-Atlantic understanding. Trade and Investment Facilitation AmCham France assists American companies wishing to invest or engage in trade with the transatlantic counterparts, and French companies seeking similar opportunities in the United States. To this end, AmCham France works closely with the US Foreign Commercial Service in France, the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington and the Council of American States in Europe (CASE), as well as with the various French governmental or quasi governmental investment organizations. Organizational Structure AmCham France's principal office and secretariat are located at 156 Boulevard Haussmann in Paris. AmCham Chapters, run by local members, operate in Strasbourg (Alsace-Lorraine), Lyon (Centre-Est), Toulouse (Midi-Pyrenees), and Lille (France Nord). The Board of Directors is AmCham France's chief policy-setting body. It consists of between 20 and 35 members, with an Executive Committee. The Executive Committee is composed of the president, the two vice presidents, a treasurer and a secretary. The president heads the Board and the Executive Committee. Members of both the Board and the Executive Committee work on a voluntary basis, donating their time and expertise on behalf of the membership as a whole. AmCham France has nine substantive Task Forces: IT-New Media, Taxation, Legal Affairs, Professional Women, Human Resources, Training and Education, Hospitality and Travel, Entrepreneur, and Finance and Economy. They offer educational, networking and lobbying events, or roundtable discussions among their members. Recent Task Force lobbying included submitting a white paper on data privacy to the French government, and playing a key role in getting rapid approval of a protocol to the U.S. - France tax treaty that will save companies millions of dollars. AmCham France and its regional chapters Based around Lille, Strasbourg, Lyon, Toulouse, and Nice, organize about 200 events a year. Highlights in 2009 included a gala for the French American Business Council, honoring its chairmen, FedEx CEO Fred Smith and Publicis CEO Maurice Levy, and meetings or lunches with the French ministers of Industry, Labor, Digital Economy, and the Recovery Plan. AmCham members also appreciate the many networking events, such as "AmCham After Hours", "Under-35", or Professional Women cocktails, or events co-sponsored with the three other Anglophone chambers in France. In a service much appreciated by members, especially by business service providers and training companies, AmCham often organizes marketing events for members in its two reception rooms. In 2009, AmCham's quarterly Commerce in France ,a magazine devoted issues to travel and tourism, sustainable development, human resources, and the medical and pharmaceutical sectors, as well as featuring various regions in France. Members are kept informed through the monthly AmCham Update, and can promote their activities and list their staff in the detailed annual Directory. Jean-Claude Gruffat, Citi Country Officer for France, started his third year as AmCham President in 2010. In his 36-year banking career he has served in numerous leadership roles in the U.S., France and Asia. Aside from his financial experience, he holds a PhD in Law and a Masters in Political Science. A "Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Mérite" and a "Foreign Trade Counselor for France", Mr. Gruffat is engaged in several other Franco-American and business organizations, and frequently speaks to the media or at conferences. Website: www.amchamfrance.org
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 Front of the American Chamber of Commerce © AmCham France Room in the American Chamber of Commerce in Paris © AmCham France  Coton office in New Orleans, LA, 1873. Edgar Degas. Pau, Musée des Beaux-arts
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