Alice Slayton Clark Archives

Global Competition Policy in the Spotlight at Joint ICC/USCIB Meeting

Published on September 5, 2018
L-R: The FTC’s Bruce Hoffman (center) with (L-R) Jennifer Patterson (Arnold & Porter), Dina Kallay (Ericsson), Eva Hampl (USCIB) and Patrick Hubert (Orrick Rambaud Martel)

On September 5, against the backdrop of fast-changing business and policy practices with respect to antitrust and consumer protection, the USCIB Competition Committee held a joint meeting with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Competition Commission at Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP’s offices in New York. The meeting took place in conjunction with the 45th Annual Fordham Conference on International Antitrust Law (September 6-7). Participants in the joint ICC/USCIB meeting represented many jurisdictions, including Brazil, France, Germany, Mexico, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The keynote speaker was Bruce Hoffman, director of the Bureau of Competition at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Hoffman discussed the latest developments of antitrust policy with USCIB members, including for competition policy litigation and enforcement in the U.S., as well as upcoming FTC hearings, beginning next week in Washington, D.C., on the state of competition law and policy.

USCIB Competition Committee Chair Dina Kallay (Ericsson) referred to the FTC’s effort – which will look at the 21st-century landscape for competition, market concentration, consumer data,  vertical mergers and other topics – as “the mother of all hearings.” Kallay and USCIB Competition Committee Vice Chair Jennifer Patterson (Arnold & Porter) led participants through an agenda that included updates on issues including mergers, due process, cartels, the International Competition Network (ICN), and the Multilateral Framework on Procedures, on which USCIB and ICC recently submitted a joint statement.

USCIB, USTR Discuss World Trade Organization Updates

Published on September 5, 2018
L-R: Rob Mulligan (USCIB), Chris Wilson (USTR)
Meeting was an opportunity to receive WTO updates and to raise questions regarding U.S. government negotiations or initiatives in Geneva.
USTR highlighted areas that the U.S. delegation is working on, such as over-fishing and e-commerce.

 

Members of USCIB’s Trade and Investment Committee sat down with Chris Wilson, deputy chief of mission at USTR’s Geneva office, on August 30 in Washington DC. The meeting was a timely opportunity for USCIB to receive the latest developments at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and to raise questions regarding specific U.S. government negotiations or initiatives underway in Geneva.

Wilson highlighted some of the areas that the U.S. delegation is “actively and constructively” working on with the WTO, such as multilateral negotiations to develop new disciplines with respect to subsidies that contribute to over-fishing and an emerging plurilateral initiative on e-commerce.  Wilson also outlined some of the areas the U.S. sees as needing reform in the WTO, including concerns with the Appellate Body.

“As trade disruptions over the past year have escalated, more USCIB members have raised concerns about the potential impact on the WTO and how business can help move forward reforms at the WTO,” said USCIB Senior Vice President for Policy and Government Affairs Rob Mulligan. “Our discussion with Chris helped clarify U.S. government views and informed us, as well as our members, of possible steps to take.”

 

Hampl Urges USTR to Remove Products from China Tariff List

Published on August 21, 2018
Hampl expressed concern about consequences proposed tariffs are likely to have on sectors vital to the U.S. economy and jobs
The Administration is also considering increasing tariffs to 25 percent.

 

With a new set of proposed tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, USCIB has been actively advocating on the effect these tariffs will have on the competitiveness of U.S. companies. USCIB Senior Director for Investment, Trade and Financial Services Eva Hampl provided testimony to the 301 Committee chaired by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) on August 20, expressing concern about the potential unintended consequences these proposed tariffs of 10 percent are likely to have, affecting many sectors vital to the U.S. economy and jobs. The Administration is also considering increasing tariffs to 25 percent.

“If the USTR follows through on the President’s request to increase the level of the proposed tariffs to 25 percent on this broad list of products, the impact to U.S. competitiveness will be severe,” warned Hampl in her testimony. “USCIB strongly urges the Administration to consider the significant negative consequences to U.S. companies and American jobs before taking further action.”

Products that USCIB requested to be removed from the list of goods affected include parts in U.S.-made wind turbines, smart technology, goods using Bluetooth technology, standalone desktop computers, bicycles, patio furniture, electric lamps, travel goods, handbags, and many others. USCIB will submit written comments to USTR with further details on all the products that should be excluded.

“Many of the goods included in this new list are innovative products where the U.S. is an industry leader,” added Hampl. “Particularly for goods that are at the cutting edge of innovation and the future global economy, it is imperative for U.S. companies to remain highly competitive and innovative. Sweeping non-discriminatory tariffs will be very damaging, particularly if they are raised to 25 percent.”

With yet a new set of tariffs on China going into effect on August 23 on $16 billion worth of Chinese imports, USCIB has also been actively advocating that the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) Section 301 exclusion process will remedy some of the potential negative consequences.

 

Donnelly Talks Trade and Diplomacy (and Soybeans) in Podcast Interview

Published on August 16, 2018
Shaun Donnelly
The “American Diplomat” series seeks to give listeners greater appreciation of the work done by American diplomats and public servants.
Host Peter Romero leads Donnelly through an informal discussion of the nuts and bolts of trade negotiations.

 

USCIB Vice President Shaun Donnelly is featured in a recent interview on the podcast “American Diplomat” demystifying trade policy and negotiations for listeners outside the beltway. The “American Diplomat” series is supported by the American Academy of Diplomacy, which counts among its members both Donnelly and USCIB Vice Chair Thomas Niles, longtime U.S. diplomats who each achieved the ranks of ambassador and assistant secretary. It seeks to give listeners around the country greater appreciation of the work done by American diplomats and public servants – in this case trade negotiators – to advance America’s, and Americans’, interests.

In the podcast interview, host Peter Romero (a retired U.S. ambassador and assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere) leads Shaun through an informal discussion of the nuts and bolts of trade negotiations, with soybeans arising often as an example how any specific products factor into broad trade policy.

Donnelly claims to have enjoyed the discussion. “Over the years, I’ve done a fair number of speeches, panels and interviews trying to help build public understanding and support for an aggressive, pro-engagement, pro-growth trade policy, and have not always succeeded,” he noted with a self-deprecating chuckle. “I found this more informal, extended conversation format with Peter and his colleague Laura Bennett allowed more opportunity to get behind the sound bite, the bumper sticker and the talking point. Trade remains a complex, controversial and politicized topic these days. All of us who believe in open trade and investment policies need to keep reaching out to help build public understanding and support for common sense trade policies. I hope this sort of podcasts can make a modest contribution to the public discourse on trade.”

USCIB Represents Business at State Department Anti-Corruption Training

Published on August 13, 2018
Donnelly was the business community panelist at a State Department anti-corruption training session, “Tools and Strategies to Combat Corruption”
The session was an informal give-and-take on how U.S. embassies and consulates abroad can work with the private sector to combat bribery and corruption.

 

USCIB Vice President for Investment and Financial Services Shaun Donnelly was the business community panelist at an August 10 State Department anti-corruption training session during a week-long “Tools and Strategies to Combat Corruption” course for State Department officers headed overseas this summer.

The session, at State’s Foreign Service Institute in Arlington, Virginia was an informal give-and-take on how U.S. embassies and consulates abroad can work with the private sector to combat bribery and corruption. Donnelly was filling in for USCIB colleague Eva Hampl, who has participated in previous anti-corruption training sessions.

“I thought we had a very useful discussion of how U.S. business and local U.S. embassy staff members can cooperate on win-win efforts to combat corruption and bribery by local firms and government officials as well as third-country competitors,” Donnelly said. “Corruption anywhere is a cancer on governance and politics; it can also cost American businesses and workers a fair shot at winning major trade and investment deals. Business and government need to be full partners in combating this cancer.”

Congress Sends Revised “CFIUS” Foreign Investment Rules to President for Signature

Published on August 7, 2018

USCIB was very pleased to see both houses of Congress adopt (the House on July 25 and Senate a week later on August 1) as part of the compromise Conference Report on the overall 2019 “John McCain” National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”), some fundamental long-gestating revisions to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (“CFIUS”) process for U.S. Government review of foreign direct investment (FDI) into the U.S.

Over the last year, Congress, the Administration and key stakeholders, including USCIB and the broad U.S. and international business communities, have been debating a wide range of potential major reforms to CFIUS.  Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) and Representative Robert Pittinger (R-NC) have taken the lead with their Foreign Investment Risk Review Mechanism (“FIRRMA”) bill but a wide range of possible revisions and reforms have been put on the table by various players on the Hill and beyond.

“Some of the proposed ‘reforms’, especially the idea that CFIUS should dramatically expand its remit to cover outward investment, joint ventures, licensing deals, and other innovative partnerships, were very troubling to us at USCIB and many member companies,” noted USCIB Vice President for Investment and Financial Services Shaun Donnelly. “USCIB and others in the business community raised fundamental objections to some of those more expansive proposals.”

In the end, according to Donnelly, the compromise “FIRRMA” provisions hammered out and included in the NDAA package seem a fair balance, strengthening CFIUS’s security overview of sensitive investment proposals, especially those in sensitive emerging technologies which also maintaining America’ commitment to open investment policies.

Donnelly endorsed the compromise FIRRMA provisions, stating, “We at USCIB commend the Congress and the Administration for the serious approach they’ve taken to these important investment security issues. We especially appreciate that the Treasury Department, other agencies, and many players in the Congress have all been open to a real substantive dialogue with business and other stakeholders on fundamental issues on investment security and business practices. We think they got the balance about right in the final compromise package, which is not easy.”

USCIB Urges G20 to Get More Active Combating International Bribery

Published on August 7, 2018

USCIB has joined with other major U.S. business associations as well as the AFL-CIO labor federation and the Coalition for Integrity, a leading anti-corruption NGO, to send a joint letter to President Trump requesting that the Administration take major steps this year to combat international bribery and corruption.

The group recommends a particular focus on the G20, the largest economies and major competitors and partners, with a view to getting those G20 members which are not yet signatories to the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention become signatories and full partners to that convention by the end of 2018.  China, India, Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia are key G20 members falling into that category.

“Our letter also recommends that the Administration should step up its efforts to ensure vigorous and consistent enforcement of foreign bribery laws as well as its OECD convention obligations by all G20 member nations,” said USCIB Vice President for Investment and Financial Services Shaun Donnelly. “International bribery is not only morally wrong, it is also an attack on the U.S. economy, our companies and workers following the highest standards of integrity. When foreign competitors use bribery and corruption to win business away from American companies and workers, that is a direct hit at our economy and is unacceptable. We look forward to working with our partners in this initiative and key U.S. Government agencies in the lead-up to the G20 senior meetings later this year to advance the battle against international bribery and corruption.”

USCIB Warns More Tariffs Will Harm US Companies, Consumers

Published on July 31, 2018

In the continuing battle of tit-for-tat tariffs between the United States and China, USCIB submitted comments to the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) on July 23 regarding the proposed 25 percent tariffs on $16 billion worth of Chinese imports. This list of goods followed the first consultation on proposed 25% tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese imports, which resulted in the imposition of tariffs on $34 billion on July 6, 2018.

“Tariffs are a blunt tool with many unintended consequences on U.S. businesses,” said Eva Hampl who leads USCIB’s work on China. “They will significantly impact U.S. companies’ ability to export and create important jobs in the United States. They will also negatively impact U.S. customers, increasing competitiveness in the United States for foreign competitors. The Administration’s proposed tariff list was drawn up without significant input from the U.S. business or manufacturing community. The public comment process is the principal means to solicit information from U.S. businesses. Therefore, the Administration must use this process to ensure that its actions in this China 301 process do not inadvertently harm some of the most competitive sectors of the U.S. economy, and the hundreds of thousands of American jobs that depend on them. Tariffs should only be used as leverage toward a negotiated outcome and should not be imposed while negotiations are ongoing.”

USCIB’s comments also applauded the Administration for looking at alternative approaches, such as initiating a World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute by requesting consultations with the Chinese government regarding certain specific aspects of China’s technology regulations considered in the investigation. “In addition to engaging the WTO process, this should include developing a strategy with clearly defined objectives, direct negotiating mechanism with the Chinese, targeted deliverables, and deadlines with measurable results,” added Hampl. “The Administration should also coordinate in various available forums with like-minded trading partners who are similarly afflicted by China’s actions on intellectual property rights, forced technology transfer, and discriminatory industrial policies.”

USCIB’s comments to USTR were supplemented by a separate multi-association letter on $16 billion worth of tariffs. USCIB will also put together comments on the $200 billion list of proposed additional 10% tariffs on Chinese imports.

In BBC Interview, Mulligan Shares Thoughts on G20 Meeting

Published on July 24, 2018
Rob Mulligan, USCIB

G20 Finance Ministers gathered in Argentina over the weekend to raise concerns over growing tensions between the United States and its major trading partners. Following the meetings, BBC’s Aaron Heslehurst spoke with USCIB Senior Vice President for Policy and Government Affairs Rob Mulligan as part of BBC’s Talking Business segment regarding international trade tensions that may undermine the global economy and stunt growth.

Mulligan expressed concern that continued escalation of tariffs may cause all kinds of problems for USCIB member companies. “Tariffs will lead to higher costs, drive higher prices for consumers and, we think, in the end, can start driving job losses,” warned Mulligan. “In fact, we’ve seen estimates for the existing tariffs related to steel and aluminum that can cause job losses in the United States of up to 140,000 jobs.”

Specifically, on U.S.-China tensions, Mulligan noted, “there are issues with China’s unfair trade practices that need to be addressed and we fully support an effort that would bring together all our allies to make that point with China, but we’re not sure that raising tariffs the way the President has threatened, even threating to impose tariffs on all 500 million of China’s exports to the United States, is going to be the way to solve that problem.”

To hear the entire interview, click here.

USCIB Joins Coalition to Urge Congress to Curb Trump Tariffs

Published on June 27, 2018

USCIB joined more than 270 national associations and state and local chambers of commerce to send a letter on June 26 in support of the Corker Bill (S. 3013), which would require President Donald Trump to submit to Congress any proposal to raise tariffs in the interest of national security under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.

“The U.S. business and agriculture communities are deeply concerned that the President’s unrestricted use of section 232 to impose tariffs may not be in the national interest,” the letter states. “It is now also increasingly clear that the way the steel and aluminum tariffs have been used will result in retaliatory tariffs from our largest trading partners and closest allies, and that retaliation will have serious negative economic impacts on the United States. The tariffs are also undermining U.S. efforts to build an international coalition of like-minded countries to join the United States in combating the use of unfair trade and investment policies.”

Eva Hampl, USCIB senior director for investment, trade and financial services added, “USCIB strongly supports a more competitive America, which enjoys economic growth and jobs by increasing exports, opening global markets and securing a level playing field for our goods and services. The imposition of tariffs will lead to higher prices for U.S.-made products, reducing the competitiveness of our exports, and will probably eliminate more jobs than it saves. In addition, it is likely to create strong disincentives for foreign investment in the United States, and to spur higher inflation.”

USA Today recently published an article about the letter.