Trans-atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Issues

Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership in 2013

United States views on international law [1] in relation to Trans-atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership: On March 20, 2013, the Obama administration notified the U.S. Congress of its intent to enter into negotiations on a comprehensive trade and investment agreement with the European Union. The notification letter to Congress is available at (link resource) ustr.gov/sites/default/files/03202013%20TTIP%20Notification%20Letter.PDF. On February 13, 2013, President Obama and European Union leaders announced their intent to pursue talks toward a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (“T-TIP” or “TTIP”). The joint statement from President Obama, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President José Manuel Barroso is available at (link resource) ustr.gov/about-us/press-office/pressreleases/2013/february/statement-US-EU-Presidents. Three rounds of negotiations were concluded in 2013 on the proposed agreement. A USTR fact sheet issued in June and available at (link resource) ustr.gov/about-us/press-office/fact-sheets/2013/june/wh-ttip, lists key aspects of the agreement:

T-TIP will be an ambitious, comprehensive, and high-standard trade and investment agreement that offers significant benefits in terms of promoting U.S. international competitiveness, jobs, and growth.

Some Aspects of Trans-atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership

T-TIP will aim to boost economic growth in the United States and the EU and add to the more than 13 million American and EU jobs already supported by transatlantic trade and investment.

Developments

In particular, T-TIP will aim to:

• Further open EU markets, increasing the $458 billion in goods and private services the United States exported in 2012 to the EU, our largest export market.

• Strengthen rules-based investment to grow the world's largest investment relationship. The United States and the EU already maintain a total of nearly $3.7 trillion in investment in each other's economies (as of 2011).

• Eliminate all tariffs on trade.

• Tackle costly “behind the border” non-tariff barriers that impede the flow of goods, including agricultural goods.

• Obtain improved market access on trade in services.

• Significantly reduce the cost of differences in regulations and standards by promoting greater compatibility, transparency, and cooperation, while maintaining our high levels of health, safety, and environmental protection.

• Develop rules, principles, and new modes of cooperation on issues of global concern, including intellectual property and market-based disciplines addressing state-owned enterprises and discriminatory localization barriers to trade.

• Promote the global competitiveness of small- and medium-sized enterprises.

Details

On April 25, 2013, Under U.S. Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Robert D. Hormats delivered remarks on TTIP at Johns Hopkins University's Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (“SAIS”). His remarks, excerpted below, are available at (link resource) iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/texttrans/2013/04/20130425146420.html#ax zz2tuI3ybjB.

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President Obama's announcement in the State of the Union address of the intention of the United States to negotiate a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP, heralds a new era in the transatlantic relationship. The TTIP—if it works—will be a challenge, but one worth undertaking.

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TTIP has the potential to be an historic agreement on many levels. Its scope is considerable. The TTIP seeks to create a more open market for 800 million consumers encompassing both sides of the Atlantic. And it will be very different from any trade agreement we have ever negotiated.

Trans-atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership in 2013 (Continuation)

United States views on international law [1] in relation to Trans-atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership: It will seek to break new ground by addressing a multitude of heretofore unaddressed non-tariff barriers, setting the stage for convergence between the United States and the EU on key standards and regulations, and establishing high quality norms and practices that can spread to other markets. It is also an opportunity to reaffirm and reinforce the strong economic, political, social and values we share with Europe.

More about Trans-atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership

Much as NATO was the glue that tied the United States and Europe together during the Cold War, TTIP can reflect and promote shared transatlantic interests and values that will bind us together more closely in the coming decades of the 21st century.

Development

So, we are on the cusp of beginning negotiations with the European Union on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. This is a historically important project. It is also one that many previously thought was not possible. Some even argued that it was not even worth trying for, given the political, economic, regulatory, and cultural challenges on both sides of the Atlantic. And, some questioned, given the increasing role of Asia, why we should spend the time and effort on major trade negotiations with Europe.

In this context, I'd like to discuss two key considerations.

Details

First: the rebalancing, or “pivot,” of U.S. foreign and economic policy to Asia has received much attention of late. But, as Vice President Biden remarked in Munich in February, our engagement with Asia does not come at Europe's expense. Indeed, the Vice President noted that it is profoundly in Europe's interest for the United States to engage more broadly with the world, and we should be doing many more of these things fully and actively together.

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There is no denying the economic importance of Asia. It is an enormous economic priority for the United States—as it is for Europe. Indeed, I believe that both Europe and the United States will be in a stronger position to meet the competitive challenges of Asia if we have stronger economic ties with one another and if we agree on high common standards.

Resources

Notes

1. Trans-atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership in the Digest of United States Practice in International Law

Resources

Notes

1. Trans-atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership in the Digest of United States Practice in International Law