Faith and Skepticism about Trade, Foreign Investment
The Pew Research Center recently released its new Faith and Skepticism about Trade, Foreign Investment report which analyzes responses of people in 44 nations about the effects and consequences of international trade. According to the survey, overwhelming majorities in both Europe and the US hold the view that trade is good for their economy, but that there is far less faith in the specific benefits of trade. The survey illustrates a need for better communication of the potential gains and benefits of trade agreements such as TTIP and TPP in order to win public support. (Pew Global)

Speeches and Official Announcements

 

Remarks by Ambassador Michael Froman at the No Labels Business Leaders Forum
Ambassador Michael Froman spoke yesterday in Washington at the No Labels Business Leaders Forum, presenting America’s trade agenda as a nonpartisan effort to promote growth, grow the middle class, and create jobs, especially in small and medium sized businesses. The TPP and the TTIP agreements will strengthen the United States as a manufacturing platform, raise global standards, and provide US companies with barrier-free trade with countries representing over two-thirds of the global economy. (USTR)

A Look Back at Lehman Brothers and Where We Stand Six Years after the Financial Crisis
Tanya Somanader, deputy director of Digital Content for the Office of Digital Strategy at the White House, gives an overview of economic progress since the onset of the Great Recession, six years to the day after the collapse of Lehman Brothers. The informative blog specifically focuses on President Obama’s export initiative and focus on rebuilding the competitiveness of America’s manufacturing sector. (White House)

Risks and Opportunities for the EU: Agri-food Sector in a possible EU-US Trade Agreement
In a report produced for the European Parliament, the agriculture and food sectors are quantitatively analyzed in light of the ongoing TTIP negotiations. Findings in the preferred scenario indicate that TTIP could increase EU agri-food exports to the United States by approximately 60 percent and increase imports by about 120 percent by 2025. While the agri-food sector is important on a national level, it is unlikely to represent the core of the agreement, since the sum of all EU exports in this category are comparatively low. Overall, the primary concern for TTIP is that international social, environmental, and ethical standards in agriculture may be set by others if the agreement is unsuccessful. (European Parliament)

News

 

The German Trade Union Federation Makes a U-Turn on TTIP
Sigmar Gabriel, head of the German Social Democrats, has convinced the German Trade Union Federation to change their opinion with regards to TTIP. German trade unions, originally strong adversaries of the transatlantic trade agreement, have agreed to support its conclusion if certain conditions are met. – Original article in German. (Sueddeutsche Zeitung)

Scottish Vote Raises Tensions across the Atlantic
Ben White and MJ Lee of Politico detail the uncertainty of today’s independence referendum in Scotland. With the polls close, everyone from current and former US politicians, Queen Elizabeth, and international pop stars are weighing in on the implications of the vote. Many show concern for economic issues, including complications dividing the national debt and implications in the global marketplace. There are also geopolitical concerns, including what to do with Scotland’s nuclear submarines, the possible undermining of the UK on the global stage, and the potential for other European regions to seek independence at an already unstable time. (Politico)
On a related note, yesterday US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew warned of the possible economic consequences of independence, not only for Scotland, but also globally. (Reuters)

Global Recovery is Precarious, says the International Monetary Fund
Following the IMF’s latest economic forecast revisions, Ferdinando Giugliano of the Financial Times explains the IMF’s recent warnings about the effects of global geopolitical tensions, and the potential reversal of loose monetary policy in the United States. The IMF also highlighted the importance of structural reforms for both emerging economies and developed economies in order to build a foundation for sustainable growth in the future. (Financial Times)

ECB’s Lending Spree Falls short of Expectations
Claire Jones and Christopher Thompson of the Financial Times report on the ECB’s disappointing initial offer of cheap four-year loans. The next (of seven) auctions takes place in December. Collectively, the auctions aim to boost inflation towards the ECB’s statutory target of just below 2 percent and revive the Eurozone’s distressed economy by encouraging lending to small businesses. (Financial Times)

Alliance Pushes to Create Jobs for Europe’s Young
Sarah Gordon, the Europe Business Editor of the Finanical Times, discuss Nestlé Europe’s acknowledgement of the effects of youth unemployment in Europe’s lackluster economic recovery. Tomorrow in Switzerland, Nestlé will announce Alliance for Youth, an agreement between nearly 200 companies to offer 100,000 jobs to young workers during the next two years in order to help prevent today’s unemployed youth from becoming a lost generation. Nestlé has already created 8,000 jobs for young workers in the last eight months, aiming for 20,000 jobs and training opportunities by 2016. (Financial Times)

Gloomy Economic Outlook as Russia’s Trade War Takes its Toll
Amid a slew of bad news for Ukraine’s economy given the current crisis, Andrew Gardner of European Voice reports on Ukraine’s rising exports to the European Union, a rise of 14 percent over the past six months. The rise is driven by a deal to assist Ukraine during the delayed implementation of the FTA the two sides have negotiated which removes tariffs on 95 percent of Ukrainian goods. Still, the country’s economy is now projected to contract by fully 6.5% this year. (European Voice)

Recent Analysis

 

EU Trade Policy and TTIP: Waiting for Germany
Although Germany plays a decisive role in trade negotiations in Brussels, their influence is not met with an equal measure of leadership. According to Iana Dreyer, the reasons for this lack of strategy are rooted in German domestic politics: a decrease in trust in their American counterparts, Germany’s traditional focus on exports and not on liberalizing trade at home, influential political parties opposing the deal, and fears of an alleged lowering of social, health and environmental standards, combine to make German leaders hesitant to come out forcefully in favor of TTIP. (Borderlex)

The TTIP Prescription: Expanding Trade Can Speed the Flow of New Medicines
John Lechleiter, contributor to Forbes, analyzes the impacts of TTIP and the broader trade agenda on the development and distribution of new medicines. In addition to reducing the duplication of equivalent testing, increasing predictability, streamlining regulations, strengthening intellectual property protection and enforcement, and improving market access, the author argues that TTIP will have the potential to make it easier and more affordable for patients on both sides of the Atlantic to have access to the medicines they need. (Forbes Magazine)

India, EU need to take their current courtship to marriage: Joao Cravinho
In an interview with Asit Ranjan Mishra, Joao Cravinho, Ambassador of the European Union to India, talks about the state of negotiations of the long pending Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India, which has been under negotiation since 2007. He is convinced that both partners will soon be ready to finalize the agreement, and that TTIP will not divert attention from the EU-India FTA but in fact have a positive effect on India and other economies because “both American and European companies will deeply engage in global value chains and hence will do a lot of sourcing from other countries.” (Live Mint)

Nothing Romantic about an Independent Scotland
My Atlantic Council colleague Sarah Bedenbaugh writes for US News and World Report on the upcoming referendum on Scottish independence. The article highlights both the economic and geopolitical disadvantages of independence from the UK, and the benefits of UK-Scottish unity, concluding that voting for independence would be an ill-advised decision based on romanticized, narrow-minded arguments. (US News)
The Financial Times also weighs in with a nice article arguing that Scotland cannot have financial stability and economic inegration with the UK after independence.

Juncker must play it long
This European Voice editorial addresses the European Commission’s tensions between short-term and long-term decisions. At a time of political and economic unrest, the editor warns Jean- Claude Juncker and his Commission not to get caught up in short-term decisions but rather see the Commission as the watchdog of their citizen’s well-being in the medium and long-term. (European Voice)

Upcoming Events

 

Seventh Round of TTIP Negotiations – September 29 – October 3 in Washington DC – a political stock-taking between Ambassador Froman and Commissioner De Gucht will follow the talks on October 13. Stakeholder events will take place on Wednesday, October 1 as outlined below.

Public Sector Investment and its Impact on the World Economy – On September 22 in Washington, the Atlantic Council will host a high-level panel discussion about the increasing role of public investors in the international economy at the US launch of OMFIF’s new publication Global Public Investor (GPI) 2014 – Click here for more Information or to RSVP.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to Speak at the Atlantic Council – September 18, in Washington DC; hosted by the Atlantic Council – This event will only be available via webcast. – Click here to watch the speech at 6:00 pm EST

The Future of Transatlantic Trade and the US-German Relationship – September 18 in Washington DC; hosted by the German Marshall Fund of the United States – More Information

The TPP: What’s at Stake for the United States? Featuring remarks from Atlantic Council Chairman Jon Huntsman – September 18 in Washington DC; hosted by the US Chamber of Commerce – Watch the webcast here

New Era for Turkey-USA-EU Perspectives on TTIP: Opportunities & Risks Conference – September 18-19, in Izmir, Turkey; hosted by ESBAŞ – More Information

Growing the Transatlantic Digital Economy – September 19 in Washington DC; hosted by the Progressive Policy Institute and the Lisbon Council – More Information

TTIP Road Show, Edinburgh, Scotland: The US-EU Trade Negotiations and the Coalition for Transatlantic Business – September 23 in Edinburgh, Scotland; hosted by the British American Business Association – More Information

Breakfast Briefing on the European Banking Union – September 23 in New York, NY; hosted by the European-American Chamber of Commerce – More Information

Jobs and Economic Growth for Indianapolis: How TTIP Will Help – September 26 in Indianapolis, IN; hosted by the Trans-Atlantic Business Council – More Information

TTIP: Does It Still Have Support in Europe? – September 29 in New York, NY; hosted by the European-American Business Organization and the American Business Forum on Europe – More Information

What’s Next? Fostering the Next Generation of Energy Security Conference – September 30 in Washington DC; hosted by the American Security Project – More Information

Stakeholder Policy Presentations During the 7th round of TTIP Negotiations – October 1 in Chevy Chase, MD; hosted by USTR- More Information

Stakeholder Forum During the 7th Round of TTIP Negotiations – Chief Negotiators’ Briefing – October 1 in Chevy Chase, MD; hosted by USTR – More Information

TTIP Roadshow, Sheffield: The US-EU Trade Negotiations and the Coalition for Transatlantic Business – October 1 in Sheffield, England; hosted by the British- American Business Accosiation – More Information

TTIP: A Watershed Agreement with Far-Reaching Implications – October 2 in Philadelphia, PA; hosted by the British American Business Council – More Information

District Export Council’s Second Annual International Trade Symposium – October 3, Washington DC; hosted by the US Chamber of Commerce – More Information

Launch of new Atlantic Council Publication: TTIP – Big Benefits for Small Companies – November 14 in Washington – More information forthcoming