Alice Slayton Clark Archives

Will Trade Overtake Antitrust as the Protector of Due Process?

Published on March 24, 2016

washington-Lincoln-MemorialsThe next meeting of the USCIB Competition Committee will be held in advance of the ABA Antitrust Spring Meeting. In addition to Committee business, the meeting will include an expert panel discussion on the role of trade in antitrust due process issues.

SPEAKERS:

Randolph W. Tritell
Director, Office of International Affairs
Federal Trade Commission

Daniel Watson
Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for North America
Office of the United States Trade Representative

DATE/TIME:

Monday, April 4, 2016
2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. EDT

LOCATION:

Baker Botts LLP
1299 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20004

RSVP:

Eva Hampl
ehampl@uscib.org

Dial-in information provided upon request.

Boao Forum Focuses on G20 Policy Agenda

Published on March 24, 2016

jdboao_sourceWith less than six months to go to the 2016 G20 Summit, a special session of the Boao Forum for Asia brought together leaders from both business and government to discuss policy priorities to support growth and job creation.

International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Secretary General John Danilovich moderated the high-level roundtable, which featured keynote addresses from Wang Shouwen, China’s vice minister of commerce and Thomas Lembong, Indonesia’s minister for trade. A major theme of the discussions was the importance of public-private partnership and dialogue to address key global challenges ranging from weak global growth to climate change.

Commenting at the roundtable on the strategic importance of this year’s G20 process, Danilovich said: “It’s vital that this year’s G20 process develops a comprehensive and credible strategy to reinvigorate trade and global growth… As business, we also look to the G20 to drive forward implementation of the landmark UN agreements which were forged last year on sustainable development and climate change.”

The roundtable explored recommendations being developed by the five B20 task forces on trade and investment, infrastructure, employment, financing and small business (SME) development. The issue of SME growth remains a particular priority for ICC’s global outreach, building on engagement throughout last year’s B20 process which lead to the creation of the World SME Forum.

 Read more from ICC

New Report Surveys US Efforts to Assist Companies Overseas

Published on March 24, 2016

Money_globeAmerican commercial diplomacy programs must adapt quickly to today’s global marketplace, characterized by global value chains, integrated production networks and strong competitive pressures for ever-greater efficiency. “Support for American Jobs,” a new report from the American Academy of Diplomacy co-authored by Academy members Shaun Donnelly, USCIB’s vice president for investment and financial services, and Chuck Ford a retired director general of the Foreign Commercial Service and former U.S. Ambassador to Honduras. The report provides recommendations to the U.S. Departments of State and Commerce to inform the development and execution of government programs that help U.S. companies do business abroad.

“The international consensus on the accepted ‘rules of the game’ has broken down, with the emergence of alternative approaches that have yet to fully mature into next-generation rules to guide world trade and investment,” the authors write in the report’s executive summary. “Intellectual property rights, copyrights, trademarks, designs, and trade secrets will be crucial to maintaining America’s competitive edge, yet they will only work if our economy has skilled workers and creative entrepreneurs who are supported by the right policy environments.”

The report notes that global value chains are core contributors to business success internationally and job creation domestically, and that U.S. commercial diplomacy programs that support America’s competitive position must become a central tenet of U.S. foreign policy. To that end, the report provides six recommendations for government action:

  • Develop, as rapidly as possible, a new policy framework to guide the design of a next-generation commercial diplomacy program to advance US national interests in the ever-more-challenging global economy.
  • Review existing commercial diplomacy programs to identify programmatic and personnel capacity gaps and to present solutions so that ambassadors and their teams will be fully equipped to advance our national interest.
  • Set up a private sector consultative mechanism to ensure systemic oversight of commercial diplomacy programs in cooperation with the private sector.
  • Assess new collaborative programs and partnerships with private enterprises to advance national economic and commercial interests across the global marketplace.
  • Create a formal cooperative mechanism to oversee human resources talent-management systems for economic and commercial officers and local employees so as to enhance successful outcomes in recruiting, retaining, and developing the strongest possible team to execute commercial diplomacy programs across the foreign affairs platform.
  • Build a formal mechanism to coordinate economic/commercial training and education programs, with a particular focus on creating new partnerships with private partners to meet the priority business requirement of short customized courses on cutting-edge issues, many of which are vastly complex in the emerging technology sector.

Donnelly contributed to the report’s section on U.S. business views on global value chains and foreign investment, noting the frustration from the business community that arises from a sense that the U.S. government does not understand the importance of global value chains and foreign direct investment for doing business in the 21st century.

“Business representatives perceive that key aspects of US trade and investment policy are based on a simplistic mercantilist view that exports are good but imports are bad; that inward investment/FDI is good but outward investment is bad,” the report states. “Many business representatives would welcome a serious, substantive review by the government on US global investment policy, both inward and outward, in today’s and tomorrow’s globalized economy.”

Before joining USCIB, Donnelly had a 36-year career in the State Department’s Foreign Service, concentrating on international economic policy.  He served as principal deputy assistant secretary of state for economic and business affairs from 2000 to 2005 when he moved to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) at the White House as assistant USTR in charge of Europe and the Middle East. Earlier he had served as U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives. At various times he was also deputy assistant secretary of state in charge of international trade policy, international energy policy, and economic sanctions.

The report’s findings were drawn from interviews with more than 50 corporate executives, including USCIB members, and senior executives at the Departments of State and Commerce.

Download “Support for American Jobs: Requirements for Next-Generation Commercial Diplomacy Programs”

Business Urges Policymakers to Avoid Trade-Distorting Data Privacy Measures

Published on March 21, 2016

dataflows

Paris and New York, March 22, 2016 – Some 10.2 billion new connected devices are expected to come online over the next five years – nearly double the number in existence today. Many of these devices will transmit user data for processing across borders. But a proliferation of forced localization measures and other government policies to restrict cross-border data transfers threaten to choke off essential cross-border electronic commerce.

Businesses from across the developed world are urging policymakers to avoid imposing rules on data privacy and security that distort global trade. In a new paper, BIAC, the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD, points to the crucial role of cross-border data flows for the recovery and future of the global economy, and calls on the OECD and governments to develop policies and regulatory frameworks that address concerns for security and privacy in the least trade-distorting way.

“Governments must avoid restricting trade through data localization measures”, said Clifford Sosnow, chair of the BIAC Trade Committee and partner with the Canadian law firm Fasken Martineau LLP. “Considering the importance of this issue for competitive markets, this paper offers recommendations to address the impact of data localization and at the same time deal with privacy and security concerns.”

The BIAC paper had significant input from the U.S. private sector via BIAC’s American affiliate, the United States Council for International Business. The paper estimates that, if fully enacted, government forced localization measures currently in place, or under consideration, could reduce global trade by $93 billion annually.

BIAC recognizes the OECD’s unique capacity to gather and develop evidence on trade restrictive measures on data flows, and accordingly requests the OECD to:

  • highlight to governments the impact of data localization on trade and investment
  • raise awareness among all industries on the importance of data flows for business operations and participation in global trade
  • promote policies that enable open flow of data, to support the rapidly growing number of business models that rely on data flows.

BIAC will work with the OECD to promote best practices in the field of cross-border data flows and encourage governments to refrain from measures that compromise the benefits of open markets and investment for growth.

Read the BIAC policy paper.

Defending Investor Protections in Trade Agreements

Published on March 18, 2016
Shaun Donnelly
Shaun Donnelly

Investment protections such as the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism have become the most contentious aspect of many ongoing trade deals, including the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). Shaun Donnelly, USCIB vice president for investment and financial services, traveled around Europe this week defending strong investment policies in U.S. trade agreements.

On March 14, Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC) to the OECD Investment Committee Chair Winand Quaedvlieg and Donnelly led business panelists in an all-day OECD conference on “Investment Treaties: the Quest for Balance.” NGO, labor and academic speakers pressed for radical changes and reduced protections ‎in investment agreements. Donnelly’s panel focused on possible changes in the ISDS regime, including the EU’s proposed investment court and appellate body system.

“I argued the U.S. model BIT already offers a balanced investment regime and that many so-called reforms were simply political attacks on investor rights and protections,” Donnelly said. “I, along with other speakers and participants, was skeptical of the EU’s ‎proposals to abandon the ISDS arbitration system.”

USTR’s lead investment negotiator for TTIP, Jai Motwane, was a co-panelist with very similar positions. Senior State Department Investment policy makers Lisa Kubiske and Michael Tracton spoke on other panels.

Donnelly attended other consultations throughout the week in Paris, both formal and informal, on investment issues with OECD Investment Committee members, senior OECD staff, and country delegations. He participated in the OECD’s special ministerial meeting on Anti-Bribery on March 16 with Klaus Moosmayer from Siemens, Chair of the BIAC Task Force on Anti-Bribery and Corruption. U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch led the U.S. Delegation to the special ministerial meeting.

Donnelly wrapped up in The Hague‎ on Friday, representing USCIB at the International Chamber of Commerce’s Trade and Investment Commission, chaired by USCIB member Jim Bacchus (Greenburg Traurig). USCIB has contributed to major ICC policy papers on investment and cross-border data flows that were discussed at the meeting.

Read BIAC’s media release: Curbing Bribery and Providing a Level Playing Field for International Business

Curbing Bribery and Providing a Level Playing Field for International Business

Published on March 18, 2016

scalesParis, March 16, 2016 –The Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD (BIAC) actively participated in the OECD Ministerial which brought together Ministers from the 41 State Parties as well as other key partner countries to the Anti-Bribery Convention. BIAC called for close private sector involvement in an ambitious OECD strategy to fight corruption and bribery.

“BIAC recognizes the OECD’s strong capacity to work horizontally in the fight against foreign bribery”, said Klaus Moosmayer of Siemens, who chairs the BIAC Task Force on Anti-Corruption/Bribery. “Close public-private cooperation is essential to effectively curb foreign bribery and provide a real level playing field for international business.”

In preparation for the OECD Ministerial meeting, BIAC identified key business priorities for governments to fight against bribery and corruption:

  • Encourage effective implementation of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention as well as increase adherence to the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention,
  • Address the demand side of bribery,
  • Recognize compliance efforts and self-reporting from companies.

BIAC calls for a comprehensive OECD anticorruption strategy which benefits from the OECD’s strong capacity to work in a cross-cutting manner and with the private sector as a key partner.

The full BIAC statement is available here.

Read more: Defending Investor Protections in Trade Agreements

ICC: Trade Policymakers — Here are Your Priorities

Published on March 10, 2016

newspapers_lo-resInternational Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Secretary General John Danilovich urged policymakers to revitalize cross-border trade in a letter to the editor of the Financial Times on March 9.

The letter is available on the Financial Times’s website, and has been reproduced below:

Sir, Your editorial on the regulation of cross-border services (“New global trade under old national rules”, March 7) rightly highlights the imperative for trade policymaking to keep pace with changing patterns of global commerce. But the growing importance of data, services and investment does not obviate the need for policymakers to take urgent action to revitalize cross-border merchandise trade.

The tendency to explain sluggish trade growth by reference to structural shifts in the global economy obscures some of the key factors underlying the recent fall in global merchandise trade — and, in doing so, underplays the potential for simple policy levers to be deployed to boost global growth. Three areas, in particular, warrant further attention.

First, urgent action is needed to address the growing shortage of bank finance to support trade. According to the Asian Development Bank, there is currently a $1.4tn financing gap for trade globally — with small businesses often facing severe difficulties accessing the credit they need to trade internationally. Second, it is time for the international community to get serious when it comes to tackling protectionism. Recent research shows that the sectors in which world trade has fallen the most are those which have been hit hardest by trade barriers over the past two years. This is a worrying trend and one which should be a first-order priority for the G20 in the year ahead.

Finally, governments should ratify and implement the World Trade Organisation’s landmark Trade Facilitation Agreement without delay. This deal — forged in 2013 but ratified by only 70 governments to date — would have a transformational effect on the ability of small business to access global markets by reducing unnecessary red tape at borders. Official estimates suggest that the deal could add more than $1tn to global trade flows, creating 20m jobs in the process. A push to realise the real-world benefits of this agreement would bring a somewhat more optimistic outlook for the future of trade-led growth and development.

John Danilovich
Secretary-general,
International Chamber of Commerce,
Paris, France

Trump’s Apple Rant Raises ‘Forced Localization’ Fears

Published on March 10, 2016

Via Politico Pro

Trade experts and economists have criticized Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump’s proposals to force Apple and other U.S. companies to bring manufacturing jobs back from China, saying that such a move would raise costs for consumers, force companies to reorganize their supply chains and harm prospects for trade liberalization.

USCIB Senior Vice President for Policy and Government Affairs Rob Mulligan spoke with Politico about how Trump’s plans are similar to the forced localization policies that many countries adopted after the financial crisis, with negative effects on global trade:

Trump’s proposal also smacks of “forced localization” policies that the United States is currently fighting around the world, where governments use the power of public procurement to require goods to be made domestically to qualify for contracts, said Rob Mulligan, a senior vice president at the U.S. Council for International Business.

If all countries started requiring their companies to bring manufacturing jobs back home, “it’s going to raise the cost for everybody,” Mulligan said.

Read the full Politico Pro article. (Paywall)

BIAC Secretary General Appointed Treasurer of the Global Apprenticeships Network

Published on March 7, 2016

worker_femaleThe secretary general of the Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC) to the OECD, Bernhard Welschke, was appointed treasurer of the Global Apprenticeships Network (GAN) for a term of two-and-a-half years. The GAN is the global coalition of leading companies committed to tackle youth unemployment and skills mismatch by investing in work-based training.

Welschke, who will guide the GAN Board in the financial administration and budget of the Secretariat, commented: “I am pleased and honored to serve as treasurer of GAN, as we all understand that employment opportunities for the young are key for the success of our economies and the future of our societies.”

Working with Alain Dehaze, CEO of the Adecco Group, as chair, Welschke will oversee the financial administration of a coalition that is extending its presence in several countries, including Turkey, Indonesia, Spain and Argentina and will guide its presence in several more countries over the next few years, leading up to its next stage of success.

No Sustainable Development Without Investment

Published on February 17, 2016

Globe with Money UnderneathEarlier this month, the OECD hosted a day-long workshop in Paris entitled “Making Investment Work for the Sustainable Development Goals,” on the implementation of the Policy Framework for Investment (PFI).  The OECD published a 2015 revision of this document, which was originally drafted in 2006, in response to a call for the importance of investment in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The many business and government voices on the various panels of the PFI workshop included comments by Ambassador Lisa Kubiske, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Finance and Development, who spoke on coping with the challenges of implementation through partnerships, including collaboration between private and government actors, which is vital for the successful implementation of the PFI.

Representing U.S. business at the session as part of the Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC) to the OECD, I spoke on the importance of retaining a focus on core investment issues.  USCIB agrees that investment is essential to realize the SDGs.  Indeed domestic and international investment are vital for global economic growth and development. Investment, however, must be seen as more than the mere means to the end of the SDGs.  To be able to fulfill its role as the creator of economic growth and development, we cannot forget what is required in order for investment to flourish.

Read the full blog post at Investment Policy Central.