Read more about TTIP and the global economy below.

Speeches and Official Announcements 

Remarks by Ambassador Froman: The Strategic Logic of Trade
Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations, Ambassador Froman noted that this week marks the 80th anniversary of the Reciprocal Trade Agreement Act of 1934, the precursor to today’s Trade Promotion Authority. Froman noted that the economic and geopolitical cases for increased international trade have never been stronger, and called on Congress and the US public to support TTIP and TPP as excellent opportunities to promote American values and support jobs and growth at home and abroad.
See Ambassador Froman’s speech in its entirety here.

On Capitol Hill, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp and Trade Subcommittee Chairman Devin Nunes added their voices in support of renewed trade promotion authority and encouraged the President and Senate to work with them in support of the new TPA bill introduced earlier this year. (Ways and Means Committee)

US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Travels to Europe
Agriculture Secretary Vilsack is in Brussels, Luxembourg, Paris, and Dublin this week to discuss the benefits of expanded transatlantic agricultural trade with his European counterparts. The EU is the world’s largest importer of food and agricultural products, and the US is keen to use TTIP as a way forward to increase its exports. Meanwhile the EU stands to gain significantly from liberalized agricultural trade with the United States as well.
The US Department of Agriculture has a press release outlining the details of Vilsack’s visit.

Commissioner Barnier – The EU and US: Leading Partners in Financial Reform
Speaking at the Peterson Institute, Commissioner Barnier made a powerful case for including financial services regulatory cooperation provisions in TTIP. While noting that both the US and EU have come a long way since the onset of the crisis, Barnier underlined that the dominance of the transatlantic partners in global finance means that they need to closely cooperate and partner on future financial oversights to prevent new threats from once again taking down the international economy.
You can see Barnier’s speech in its entirety here, and a video is available on the Peterson Institute’s event recap.

News

EU-US Trade Talks Hit Roadblock over Financial Services
News that the EU’s initial trade in services offer excludes financial services has caused alarm in both the financial sector, which does not want to be left out of TTIP, and among trade policy experts who fear that the two sides may be watering down their level of ambition overall as the talks move forward. (Financial Times)

IMF Cuts US Growth Outlook, Sees More Scope for Zero Rates
The IMF recently revised its 2014 economic growth estimate for the United States down to 2.0% (from 2.8%) and emphasized the need for structural reforms to encourage sustainable economic growth. Additionally, given America’s aging population and slower productivity growth, reforms including liberalized trade could help set the stage for a return to elevated growth. (Bloomberg)

US Says Science Should Settle Farm Debates in Trade Deal with EU
While in Europe, US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack made clear that increased market access for American agriculture is a key priority for the United States. Given the long-standing opposition to genetically-modified crops and American meat exports in Europe, agriculture has emerged as a key sticking point in the negotiations. Despite the increased openness of the EU market to some GM crops in recent years, US policymakers would like for the EU approval process to speed up in the future. (Yahoo News)

US Using Trade Pacts to Fight Wildlife Poaching
US Trade Representative Michael Froman made clear that the United States is concerned about wildlife poaching for its potential to finance terrorism and corruption, and so the US is using both TPP and TTIP to address this threat in the environmental chapter of both agreements. By cutting down trade in illegally-acquired animal products, the US, EU, and Asia-Pacific countries can significantly reduce demand for these goods and protect endangered species. (Voice of America)

Financial Services off the Table at Next Round of TTIP Talks
EU officials have made it clear that market access for financial services will not be negotiated so long as the US holds to its long-held position of excluding financial regulatory cooperation from TTIP. According to a leaked draft of the EU’s first offer on trade in services and investment, progress on market access in finance must be tied with regulatory cooperation with the Treasury Department in the United States. US policymakers think existing international fora are sufficient to coordinate financial services regulations in partnership with the EU and other partners. (EurActiv)

Cameron Faces Setback over Juncker
British Prime Minister David Cameron’s efforts to prevent Jean-Claude Juncker from becoming the next president of the European Commission seem to have taken a serious hit as German Chancellor Merkel made plain that she favors moving “very promptly” to appoint Juncker. Cameron has made it plain that he views Juncker’s candidacy as likely to move the UK further towards an exit from the European Union. (Financial Times)

Recent Analysis

The Europe 2020 Competitiveness Report 2014 – Building a More Competitive Europe
A new report from the WEF analyzes Europe’s progress on its own competitiveness agenda, called Europe 2020, and compares Europe’s competitiveness and productivity with other advanced economies across the globe. (World Economic Forum)

A Mistake to Overlook Latin America’s Role in Today’s Trade Negotiations
Writing with my colleague Jason Marczak of the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center, I make the case that TTIP and TPP have important implications for Latin America, and other third countries, that should be considered as the talks move forward. Importantly, both agreements have the ability to encourage structural reforms and labor and environmental protections bringing the region more in line with transatlantic standards. (Roll Call)

Rising Euroskepticism Challenges National Governments but Hardly the European Parliament
Timo Lochocki makes the case that the rising tide of anti-European parties on the extreme left in right provide a more serious threat to the centrist parties in many member-states like France, Britain, and Greece than they do in the European Parliament where they are rarely engaged in the work of the legislature and minimally coordinated between parties. (GMF)

TTIP: Potential Impact and Dimensions of the World’s Largest Trade Agreement
This report does an excellent job of outlining the numbers explaining just how interconnected the US and EU already are, and then making a strong case that TTIP provides an unique opportunity to set global standards and encourage sustainable growth moving forward. A highly worthwhile read, and worth bookmarking for the facts and figures. (21st Austria)

SIFMA and AFME Statement on TTIP
Following Commissioner Barnier’s remarks in Washington, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association issued a press release underlining its support for transatlantic financial regulatory cooperation under the auspices of a future TTIP agreement between the US and EU. They underlined, “a financial services regulatory framework between the US and EU would enhance coordination, reduce conflict and confusion, and improve the efficiency of regulations.” (SIFMA)

Transatlantic Partnership Forum Working Paper Series
The latest chapters from the SAIS Center on Transatlantic Relations series of working papers on the geopolitical impacts of TTIP on various regions of the world were released over the past few days. They are well worth a read, especially for regional experts and those of you with commercial or political interests in the regions discussed.
The Impact of TTIP on the Visegrad Group by Tamás Novák
CETA and TTIP: Implications and Lessons Learned by Colin Robertson
TTIP and Turkey: The Geopolitical Dimension by Kemal Kirisci
TTIP and Sub-Saharan Africa: A Proposal to Harmonize EU and US Preferences by Eveline Herfkens
The Impact of TTIP on Brazil by Vera Thorstensen and Lucas Ferraz

Upcoming Events

Staying Ahead of the Risk Curve: Creating Opportunity in a Shifting Regulatory Environment – June 18 in New York City – More information

Security In and Around Europe: A Discussion with H.E. Ursula von der Leyen, German Minister of Defense – June 19 in Washington; hosted by the Atlantic Council – More information

TTIP and the Investment Dimension: What is the State of Play? – June 24 in London; hosted by BritishAmerican Business – More information

TTIP One Year On: Consumers Mean Business – June 24 in Washington; hosted by the Trans-Atlantic Consumer Dialogue – More information

The Trans-Pacific Partnership and Asian Security – June 25 in Washington; hosted by the Atlantic Council – More information

Europe’s Wake-up Call: How to Reverse the Tide of Euroscepticism – June 25 in Washington; hosted by the SAIS Center for Transatlantic Relations – More information

Round 6 of TTIP Negotiations – July (exact dates TBD) in Brussels