PEC Wants U.S.-EU Negotiations by End of 2012, Concerned w/ ITAR Arms Broker Rule
At a meeting of the President’s Export Council (PEC) on June 6, PEC adopted five letters of recommendation addressing: export control and proposed provisions of the International Traffic in Arms regulations; the importance of the Transatlantic Partnership Agreement; the establishment of permanent normal trade relations with Russia; federal, state, and local coordination efforts on export promotion; and travel and tourism. PEC urged the President to proceed with 38(f) notifications to Congress with respect to the Export Control Reform initiative, expressed concern with a upcoming State Department proposed rule on arms brokering, and said the President should begin negotiations with the EU on a Transatlantic Partnership by the end of 2012.
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PEC Wants Congressional Notifications to Proceed; Worried About ITAR Arms Broker Rule
PEC urged the President to proceed with 38(f) notifications to Congress of the completed categories of items for transfer from the U.S. Munitions List that have already been briefed to Congress. In particular, PEC said it is particularly interested in the status of rules, proposed and unproposed, that have the largest impact on industry, such as Categories VIII (materials and miscellaneous articles), XI (military training equipment), and XII (sensors and night vision devices).
PEC also said it is concerned with the State Department’s proposed International Traffic in Arms Regulation revision for arms brokering because, according to PEC, the proposed change is “so sweeping in its scope and jurisdictional reach” that it is “concerned it could have unintended consequences contrary to the administration’s efforts at export control reform, and could impose significant and disproportionate burdens on the small business community.” PEC said that, as currently drafted, the proposed brokering rule would result in an “extraordinary expansion” in how it defines an arms broker as well as what constitutes brokering activities.
PEC Said U.S.-EU Negotiations Should Begin by End of 2012
PEC asked the President to move forward quickly to define and launch a comprehensive Transatlantic Partnership (TAP) negotiation with the European Union by the end of 2012 towards an agreement that includes:
- Elimination of agricultural and industrial goods tariffs
- Full liberation of the services trade
- Strong intellectual property rights protections and cooperation on enforcement of IPR
- A comprehensive approach to regulatory barriers to trade in goods, including a risk-based approach to regulations; harmonizing, eliminating, or establishing mutual recognition of regulations to avoid duplication and redundancy; principles for regulatory actions and a coherent EU-U.S. process for new regulations;
- Enhanced investment protection
- Common principles in competition policy and new rules for the behavior of state-owned enterprises
- Cooperation on border security, including consistent and intelligent monitoring of cargo facilities and ports
- Trade facilitation measures
- Expanded coverage of government procurement beyond the current WTO agreement
- Elimination of barriers to digital trade and e-commerce
- Solutions to issues surrounding privacy, data protection, cybersecurity, and global data flows
- Mutual recognition of an environment policy that takes into account packaging, recycling, and reuse
Work Towards Normal Trade Relations with Russia Should Continue
PEC said the President should work towards normalization of trade relations with Russia before Russia’s WTO accession this summer in order to secure benefits for U.S. industry.
PEC Urges Federal-State-Local Cooperation in Trade Promotion Efforts
PEC said the federal government should work more closely with state and local levels in trade promotion efforts in order to efficiently use resources, minimize redundancy, and maximize effectiveness. Among other things, PEC said the President should work towards developing individualized state and local export promotion plans, and use programs at the state and local level as testing grounds for federal initiatives.
Five adopted letters of recommendation to the President are available here.
(See ITT's Online Archives 12060502 for summary of June 4 meeting of the President's Export Council Subcommittee on Export Administration, which met to discuss recommendations for this PEC meeting.)