Home topics news President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. Economy Featured Finance Economy What the US election could mean for Australian businesses Ellie Dudley October 29, 2020 With under a week until the 2020 US Presidential elections on Tuesday, 3 November, economists and investors are looking to predict the way various outcomes could affect Australian businesses. The US economy is the world’s largest economy, and Australia has a very close economic relationship with the USA. In 2016 alone, exports to Australia generated 264,000 US jobs and in more than 15 states Australia ranks among the top 10 export destinations. While the large changes that come from a US election won’t directly impact Australians, the election still has the potential to influence Australian businesses and the wider economy. OFX Head of Treasury and a London School of Economics-trained 15-year veteran of global currency markets, Sebastian Schinkel, has said that the volatility of the markets and the uncertainty of the US election outcome will have a large impact on the US economy, and consequentially Australian businesses. “The US dollar is effectively the world’s reserve currency with many countries including China and the Middle East conducting business deals in USD rather than local currencies,” Mr Schinkel said. “And while the USD value is impacted by the ongoing challenges and the election in the US, the pervasive nature of the USD will inevitably impact the global currency markets. “The events in the US have an outsized impact on global markets. For those