TTIP Action aggregates the latest news and best analysis from across the United States and European Union on the ongoing negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
Speeches & Official Announcements
EU-US Trade Talks – Fourth Round Started Yesterday, March 10
On Monday, the fourth round of Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership talks kicked off. On Wednesday, March 12th the European Commission will host a stakeholder outreach session, where key stakeholders will be given an opportunity to voice their concerns over the deal. For more information and a live webcast of the stakeholder outreach event on Wednesday and press conference at the close of negotiations on Friday click here.
The Transatlantic Trade And Investment Partnership: Opportunities For Georgia, Speech By Commissioner De Gucht At Georgia Institute Of Technology – March 7
EU Commissioner for Trade Karel De Gucht spoke in Atlanta on Friday stressing the benefits that opening up trade in services between the United States and Europe would have for the economy in the US and Georgia in particular, especially considering Atlanta is host to headquarters for Delta, Home Depot, and First Data, among many others. (See statement here)
News
Europe Grumbles as Trade Talks With US Falter
According to the Wall Street Journal, government officials from EU member-states are up in arms about the US Administration’s unwillingness to share negotiating documents with representatives from the various member-states. Chief negotiators are working on a compromise to possibly allow individual state members to view the documents in a secure room at the European Commission building. However, sharing documents is just one of a bevy of new concerns that the negotiators are running into as the fourth round of talks gets underway. (Wall Street Journal)
EU and US Pressed to Drop Dispute-Settlement Rule From Trade Deal
There is opposition to the inclusion of the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism on both sides of the Atlantic as the Financial Times reports. Daniel Ikenson, director of the CATO Institute’s trade program argues that the ISDS provisions have the potential to derail TTIP talks while adding that there is a growing feeling that this clause is not needed to liberalize transatlantic trade–which is of course the ultimate goal of TTIP in the first place. (Financial Times)
Europe Prepares Sanctions Against Russia
At the same time that official delegations from the EU, US, and UK meet in London to discuss targeted financial sanctions against leading Russian officials in response to the Russian incursion into Crimea, the European Union is considering approving unilateral trade concessions to drop many customs duties on Ukrainian exports. (Financial Times)
Recent Analysis
TTIP Yields Significant Export Gains in Key US Industrial Sectors
According to a joint study between the Atlantic Council, Bertelsmann Foundation, and the British Embassy in Washington, TTIP will yield significant benefits across a number of key US business sectors, including services, manufacturing, and motor vehicles. (See report here)
Transatlantic Economy 2014 Study Released In conjunction with TTIP 4th Round of Negotiations
The Transatlantic Economy 2014 report published by the Johns Hopkins University SAIS Center for Transatlantic Relations notes that Europe still represents by far the largest market for US companies (and vice-versa), and also emphasizes that TTIP could help to set higher standards for global commerce for many years to come. (See full report here)
Counter Putin by Liberating US Natural Gas
In a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, House Speaker John Boehner Boehner makes clear his view that Russia’s stranglehold on Ukraine, and Europe’s reliance on Russian energy, will continue unless the United States lifts its de facto ban of gas exports and streamlines the US Department of Energy’s liquefied natural gas export permitting process. (Wall Street Journal)
Boehner’s Plan to Save Ukraine: It’s Full of Gas
Steve Mufson of the Washington Post breaks down Speaker Boehner’s analysis, emphasizing that the problem of European reliance on Russia moves far beyond what eventual US exports can help solve. (Washington Post)
Upcoming Events
Round 4 of TTIP Negotiations in Brussels – ongoing to March 14
Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Stakeholder Event in Brussels – March 12 (More information)
“USA, EU, Spain – Towards Trade Integration and Economic Growth” – in Madrid, Spain on March 12 (RSVP here)
Round table on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP): An European and American Discussion- March 18. (More information)
President Obama travels to Brussels for a US-EU Summit – March 26