The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations must...
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations must secure all-inclusive tariff elimination between the U.S. and the European Union, while making inroads toward regulatory harmonization, said lawmakers and executives at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on the TTIP (http://1.usa.gov/17ZIygG). If…
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the U.S. and EU broker a comprehensive tariff elimination, the deal could boost U.S. exports to the EU by a third, adding $100 billion annually in U.S. gross domestic product and creating hundreds of thousands of domestic jobs, said committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont. “Tariffs are already relatively low between the U.S. and EU, so it shouldn’t be difficult to gain an agreement to get rid of those tariffs that remain,” testified Michael Ducker, FedEx Express chief operating officer. Lawmakers and witnesses Wednesday sought expeditious passage of Trade Promotion Authority. The TPA negotiating authority should be passed this year, said Baucus. “Congress needs to be a full partner in the development and execution of this agenda. The best way to do that is to pass Trade Promotion Authority and to do it soon. The United States has numerous other trade opportunities. The Trans-Pacific Partnership, the TPP, is near conclusion.” Rep. Dave Reichert, D-Wash., has started to whip votes in the House for TPA, his spokeswoman told us Tuesday. He began this week the Friends of TPP Caucus (CD Oct 31 p13). The sluggish global economic recovery and poor World Trade Organization progress on trade facilitation make TTIP more attractive for both the U.S. and EU, said Ducker. “The economic conditions have certainly given us greater leverage. Whether it’s a consequence of the Doha Round stalling or not, I think people are taking an opportunity like this.” He was referring to the WTO talks that will formally resume in December. The administration is pursuing arguably the most ambitious trade agenda in U.S. history to increase American exports, raise international trade standards, address emerging dynamics and strengthen the global multilateral trading system, said U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman at the Economist Buttonwood conference Wednesday, according to a news release (http://1.usa.gov/1bGwza5). “That’s why we're pursuing” TPP and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, “which together will allow us to conduct free trade with economies representing nearly two-thirds of global GDP,” said Froman. “It’s also why we've pressed for a binding agreement on trade facilitation at the WTO.” The U.S. is also pursuing Bilateral Investment Treaty negotiations with China, while aiming to deepen trade ties with India, Brazil, sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, said Froman.