Froman Outlines Trade Agenda Priorities
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is aiming to propose mechanisms to strengthen U.S. economic ties with Sub-Saharan Africa, including the “seamless” renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), as the White House prepares to host the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in August, said U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman on June 16. Froman spoke before the Council on Foreign Relations. U.S. industry is pressing for quick introduction of proposals to improve AGOA, and subsequently pass a renewal bill, before the program’s 2015 expiration generates costly uncertainty (see 14040402).
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U.S.-Sub-Saharan African trade is only one scenario where the U.S. needs to continue to forge ahead with updating and continuing its trade relationships globally, said Froman. The U.S. needs to battle through domestic partisan strife to secure successful conclusions to Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations, said Froman, adding that these agreements offer opportunities to usher in unprecedented labor, environment and fair competition rules. In TPP, “by creating the first disciplines on state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in any trade agreement, we can make sure that when SOEs compete against private firms, they do so on a commercial basis, not on the basis of unfair subsidies that they might receive by virtue of their government ownership,” said Froman.
The trade agreements also play a critical role in bolstering U.S. diplomatic and security relationships globally at a time of “increased tension in Asian and on the periphery of Europe,” said Froman. “The choice today is whether we should surrender the tools of American economic leadership and watch our future be shaped by globalization rather than proactively shaping it to our benefit,” said Froman. “At a time when the strategic logic of TPP and T-TIP has never been more clear, trade policy has become more difficult than in the past.”