Alice Slayton Clark Archives

ICC Responds to the EC Proposal on Third-Country Access to Internal Procurement Markets

Published on August 3, 2012

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC’s) Task Force on Public Procurement has responded to the European Commission’s (EC) proposed changes and updates to procurement rules for approval by the European Parliament and Council.

ICC’s response aims to promote discussions and foster further evaluations of the potential consequences of the proposal made on March 21, 2012. For the EC, the proposal should be urgently passed by the European legislative bodies due to the reluctance of some non-European Union (EU) countries to open up their markets further in the course of on-going multilateral or bilateral trade negotiations.

The task force reasserted that ICC, in accordance with its mandate, cannot support any instrument purporting to limit access to markets, irrespective of the developments in trade policy that may have prompted its introduction. Parts of the EC proposal might lead to such limitations, the task force concluded.

Click here to read more on ICC’s website.

Staff Contact: Shaun Donnelly and Justine Badimon

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“G20 Governments Have Heard the Voice of Business,” Says USCIB President

Published on June 22, 2012
USCIB Chairman Terry McGraw (center), who also serves as vice chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce, speaks at the B20 Summit. ICC Chairman Gerard Worms is at left, and ICC Honorary Chairman Victor Fung at right.
USCIB Chairman Terry McGraw (center), who also serves as vice chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce, speaks at the B20 Summit. ICC Chairman Gerard Worms is at left, and ICC Honorary Chairman Victor Fung at right.

Earlier this week, USCIB President and CEO Peter M. Robinson attended the B20 business meetings preceding the G20 Summit in Los Cabos, Mexico, joining USCIB Chairman Harold (Terry) McGraw III and a host of global business leaders for intensive discussion and dialogue with G20 governments.

In a message to members reflecting on the summit’s outcome, Mr. Robinson wrote: “There is one thing I am certain of: G20 governments have heard the voice of business on a number of critical trade, investment and financial issues. To what extent the G20 truly listened to and learned from business will only be revealed through government actions going forward.”

The B20 Summit has become an annual accompaniment to the G20 Summit, attended by numerous business leaders and incorporating the involvement of each leg of USCIB’s global network – the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the International Organization of Employers (IOE) and BIAC, the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD.

Robinson said this year’s B20 meeting was a well-organized event that incorporated dialogue and exchange between business and government leaders, including both heads of state and heads of intergovernmental organizations, representing an opportunity for business to communicate its views. Position papers were developed through a consultative process established by Alejandro Ramirez, CEO of the Mexican company Cinepolis, who Robinson said “did a great job” as the B20 coordinator appointed by Mexican President Felipe Calderon.

Industry task forces organized by ICC and the World Economic Forum examined a wide range of issues in the lead-up to Los Cabos, with ICC leading the task force on trade and investment, which was co-chaired by ICC Honorary Chairman Victor Fung.  IOE Executive Vice President Daniel Funes de Rioja participated in the employment task force, which was co-chaired by USCIB Trustee Jeffrey Joerres, chairman and CEO of Manpower Inc. IOE and BIAC have organized business input to the G8/G20 labor ministerials.

In addition to Calderon, the B20 gathering was addressed by British Prime Minister David Cameron, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Korean President Lee Myung-bak, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Benin President Yayi Boni. The heads of major intergovernmental bodies also participated, including World Bank President Robert Zoellick, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria and WTO Director General Pascal Lamy.

According to Robinson, government leaders emphasized a common refrain:

  • a commitment to open markets and roll back protectionism
  • the importance of encouraging economic growth and job creation
  • a challenge to business to make its voice heard strongly and to go beyond basic recommendations
  • encouragement of the business community to measure results and actions by governments.

Robinson said business would indeed strive to hold the G20 accountable. “Certainly, the final communiqué endorsed a number of basic business messages,” he said. “I am optimistic and hopeful that the considerable energy that went into the organization of the B20 in Los Cabos will pay off in the long run, and that business will have a continued leadership role in the years ahead.”

Staff contacts: Rob Mulligan and Ronnie Goldberg

More on USCIB’s Trade and Investment Committee

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Business Priorities Delivered to G20, Progress Rated as “Incomplete”

Published on June 18, 2012
USCIB Chairman Terry McGraw speaking at a recent G20 consultation in Washington, D.C.
USCIB Chairman Terry McGraw speaking at a recent G20 consultation in Washington, D.C.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), part of USCIB’s global network, presented policy priorities on behalf of global business on the eve of this year’s Summit of G20 leaders in Los Cabos, Mexico.

“The G20’s expanding agenda increasingly bears upon core business goals for trade, economic growth and job creation,” said ICC Chairman Gerard Worms, who headed a delegation of ICC leaders at the G20 Business Summit. “It’s our responsibility to ensure that the G20 takes into account global business priorities in their deliberations. As the everyday practitioners of the global economy, we need to make sure that the voice of world business is heard.”

Worms was joined in Los Cabos by a CEO delegation that included USCIB Chairman (and ICC Vice Chairman) Harold McGraw III, chairman and CEO of The McGraw-Hill Companies; ICC Honorary Chairman Victor Fung, chairman of the Li & Fung Group Chairman Victor K Fung; and ICC G20 Advisory Group Chairman Marcus Wallenberg, chairman of SEB.

ICC has delivered business priorities to G7, G8 and now G20 Summits since 1990, and beginning with the Seoul Summit has partnered with host-country organizations to produce business policy recommendations for consideration by the G20. Currently, this work is conducted collaboratively between ICC, the World Economic Forum and principal host-nation business associations so as to canvas broad business input into the policy development process.

USCIB President Peter M. Robinson is also taking part in the business meetings surrounding the G20 Summit.

“Although the majority of issues tackled by the G20 are directly related to global business priorities, until the creation of G20 business summits, the G20 process had no formal means to solicit input from business leaders on its agenda and work,” said ICC Secretary General Jean-Guy Carrier. “The G20 Business Summit is therefore a welcome opportunity and we are grateful to Mexican President Calderon for reaching out to business.”

Among ICC’s top policy priorities are trade and investment. ICC contends that especially at a time when governments are struggling with excessive debt, multilateral trade liberalization would create jobs and drive economic growth.

“Trade is the lifeblood of the global economy and the world needs more of it at this critical moment, not less,” said Fung. “We are calling on G20 leaders to lead by example in resisting protectionism and rejecting measures that restrict trade and investment. The G20 should provide strong support for multilateral trade liberalization and foster more rapid progress on the WTO negotiating agenda.  We’d like to see the G20 make trade and investment a permanent item on its agenda.”

While a successful conclusion of the Doha Round in its current form doesn’t seem likely, there are alternative approaches to making progress on the multilateral trade agenda that can spur growth, foster economic opportunities, and create much-needed jobs.

“The G20 should enhance capital markets so the world has the liquidity it needs to meet massive demands in infrastructure and corporate debt,” said McGraw,  who also emphasized that the G20 should lead in protecting intellectual property rights. “The current trend of ‘free content’ through piracy is nothing more than the digital age’s version of old-fashioned theft,” he said.

Wallenberg said: “We call on G20 leaders to be attentive to business’s messages and to learn from companies’ experience of the practical consequences of regulation and policy decisions on the economy and on jobs.”

“Business is especially concerned with the trend toward ‘over-regulation,’” Wallenberg said. “The financing of the economy is being restricted by higher bank funding costs, higher lending spreads and lower credit supply. All this is happening at a time when the world economy is most in need of productive investment,” he added.

ICC has called on the G20 to lead efforts to create a predictable and stable climate for global cross-border investment.

We would wish that the G20 would show more concern to the promotion and protection of foreign-direct investment,” said Wallenberg. “We’d like to see the G20 create a special working group on investment to advance this agenda  which would report back to the next G20 Summit in Russia in 2013.”

ICC is committed to establishing an ongoing policy dialogue between the G20 and global business. To do so, ICC has launched the ICC G20 Business Scorecard, a policy tool designed to gauge the G20’s response to business recommendations.

ICC upholds that the G20 will more effectively set priorities, honor commitments, measure its own progress over time, and identify issues that deserve greater attention, if it is better informed on how its actions are interpreted by the business community. In parallel, global business should work more closely with the G20 to promote economic growth and job creation.

“The purpose of the ICC G20 Scorecard is to generate a balanced and reliable measurement of the G20’s performance in response to business recommendations that have been put forward to G20 leaders,” said Carrier.

The ICC G20 Scorecard was unveiled by USCIB Chairman McGraw at a June 5 conference in Washington, D.C. with U.S. G20 Sherpa Michael Froman. It marked G20 performance as “incomplete” across the four policy areas evaluated: trade and investment, green growth, transparency and anti-corruption, and financing for growth and development.

On trade and investment the Scorecard gives the G20 a score of “incomplete,” based primarily on its failure to help advance multilateral trade negotiations. “The Scorecard is a useful tool for business to monitor the G20’s progress on the international trade and investment policy agenda,” said Carrier. “If G20 leaders were to break the stalemate in WTO negotiations or to make progress towards a multilateral framework for investment, these advances would be reflected in a significantly higher score.”

The G20 Business Summit demonstrates just how useful increased collaboration between business and government can be.

“The commitment and recommendations of the CEOs gathered in Los Cabos compel a mechanism to pursue the dialogue on an ongoing basis,” Worms said.  “ICC hopes that the G20 will recognize the value of creating a permanent role for world business at future G20 summits and in the policymaking process between summits.”

Staff contact: Rob Mulligan

More on ICC’s G20 Advisory Group

New Tools in the Fight Against Investment Protectionism

Published on May 28, 2012
Jim Bacchus, who led the drafting of updated ICC Guidelines on International Investment
Jim Bacchus, who led the drafting of updated ICC Guidelines on International Investment

Former U.S. Congressman and former WTO Appellate Body Chairman Jim Bacchus spoke on behalf of USCIB and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) at a May 17 program, “Investment Protectionism and What to Do About It,” at the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C.

Bacchus, a USCIB delegate to ICC’s Trade and Investment Commission and chair of the drafting committee for the just-released updated ICC Guidelines for International Investment, joined Josh Kallmer, chief investment negotiator with the office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and Nancy McLernon, president and CEO of the Washington-based Organization for International Investment, on the panel of speakers at the event.

Currently the head of the global practice group at USCIB-member law firm Greenberg Traurig, Bacchus focused his remarks on the newly revised ICC guidelines, which seek to address new challenges in the international investment environment and further promote investment as a driver of economic growth. He explained the thinking that went into the first revision of these global benchmark guidelines since 1972, emphasizing their voluntary nature, their applicability to a wide range of sectors, forms of investment and countries, whether developed or developing.

Bacchus highlighted new chapters in the updated guidelines on emerging topics, including state-owned enterprises and corporate responsibility. The update maintains the fundamental structure from the earlier versions of the ICC guidelines, identifying key recommendations for each of the three main players in investment policy – the investor’s home government, the government of the host country for the investment and the private investor.

A key concept underlying the guidelines is that all three of these actors play important roles in creating successful policies, a welcoming investment climate and beneficial investment projects. In other words, in today’s competitive global economy, good investment policy in not simply a matter of a host government dictating terms to potential investors, but of all three groups working together for mutual benefit.

Bacchus and the other speakers agreed on the vital importance of foreign direct investment, both inward and outbound, in driving economic growth, job creation and competitiveness around the world and here at home. All three speakers noted the need to resist counterproductive investment protectionism, barriers or discrimination against foreign investors.

The three presentations sparked a lively exchange with the audience of academics, business representatives, Congressional staffers and investment policy practitioners. Dan Ikenson, director of Cato’s Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies, noted that Cato will be focusing increasingly on international investment issues in the future, as will USCIB.

To view a video of Bacchus’s presentation, please click here.

Staff contact: Shaun Donnelly

More on USCIB’s Trade and Investment Committee

Developing Countries Continue to Lead Trade Growth

Published on May 17, 2012
229 banks in 100 countries took part in the survey.
229 banks in 100 countries took part in the survey.

Developing nations were the key drivers of growth in international trade for 2011, in spite of the volatility caused by the international financial crisis, according to a report published today by the International Chamber of Commerce, the world business organization for which USCIB serves as the American national committee.

This year’s ICC Global Survey on Trade and Finance – titled “Rethinking Trade and Finance” – notes that after a year of upheavals, annual trade volume grew 6.6 percent in 2011, slightly above forecasts by the World Trade Organization. After positive growth prospects at the beginning of the year, a series of global shocks including the Arab Spring, the tsunami in Japan and the continuation of the global debt crises, resulted in an uneven performance for the year.

The survey, which provides some of the most important international data on trade finance, suggests the current environment is dampening prospects for 2012, with annual trade growth forecast at 5.2 percent this year, increasing to 7.2 percent in 2013, according to the report.

Developing countries continued to lead trade growth in spite of the slowdown towards the end of the year. South Asia exports, driven by soaring Indian trade with China, outperformed other developing regions in the first three quarters of 2011, but subsequently plummeted.

The report – in which representatives of 229 banks in 100 countries, a sharp increase on last year, took part – reveals that China’s trade experienced particularly volatile growth throughout the year, and exports from East Asia have fallen. Many major developing countries in the region are experiencing a slowdown in growth due to a tightening of domestic policy initiatives introduced between late 2010 and early 2011 to combat high inflation.

Read more on ICC’s website.

Staff contact: Eva Hampl

More on USCIB’s Banking and Trade Finance Committee

At Rio Meetings, USCIB Represents Business Interests in Global Antitrust

Published on May 11, 2012

4322_image002As U.S. companies are increasingly subject to foreign regulators and the practices of non-U.S. investigative bodies, it is imperative to ensure adequate dialogue between the private sector and government antitrust enforcers, both in order to keep the lines of communication open and to ensure that industry is aware of the ever-evolving antitrust regulations to which they may be subjected.

To that end, Charlene Flick, USCIB’s director of intellectual property and competition, took part in three key meetings in Rio de Janeiro in April: the International Competition Network (ICN) annual conference, an International Chamber of Commerce Roundtable on Competition Enforcement and Compliance, and “ICN in Brazil: The Changing World of Competition,” sponsored by the International Bar Association.

Founded in 2001, the International Competition Network is an informal, virtual network that seeks to facilitate cooperation between competition law authorities globally.  The Rio Conference focused on enforcement and compliance in competition law, including South American enforcement priorities and the business response, as well as company strategies to improve antitrust compliance.

USCIB now enjoys non-governmental advisor status in the ICN, which will increase our visibility and will allow more of our members to participate in its projects, regional workshops and annual meeting.

While in Brazil, USCIB’s Flick also met with a number of Brazil-based attorneys to discuss the current state of intellectual property protection in Brazil, and how the Brazilian bar views intellectual property law and policy as it relates to the international community.

Staff contact: Justine Badimon

More on USCIB’s Competition Committee

More on USCIB’s Intellectual Property Committee

Business Coalition Pushes for Ambitious Trans-Pacific Partnership

Published on April 19, 2012

USCIB participated in an April 18 event on Capitol Hill event, organized by the U.S. Business Coalition for TPP, highlighting the importance of the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations to promote competitiveness, job creation and higher living standards across all the TPP countries.  Speakers at the event included U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, House Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, House Ways and Means Ranking Member Sandy Levin and ambassadors or their representatives from all the TPP countries.

“The TPP negotiations are at an important crossroads,” stated Rick Johnston, co-chair of the TPP coalition and senior vice president with Citi.  “With the 12th TPP negotiating round set to begin in Dallas in less than three weeks, it is critical for all TPP countries to redouble efforts to achieve the type of comprehensive, high-standard and commercially meaningful agreement across all sectors that the Leaders of all of the TPP countries called for last November.  Only by achieving such a high-quality agreement will the benefits to our economies and our industries, workers and consumers be realized.  And such an outcome requires U.S. leadership.”

Staff contact: Rob Mulligan

More on USCIB’s Trade and Investment Committee

BIAC Chairman Leads Annual Business Visit to the OECD

Published on April 19, 2012

SLIDESHOW OF PHOTOS FROM THE EVENT

On April 16, Charles P. Heeter, Jr., a USCIB board member and chairman of BIAC, the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD, part of USCIB’s global network, led the fourth annual business visit to the OECD’s headquarters in Paris.  Executives affiliated with USCIB and several other business groups had the opportunity  for off-the-record exchanges with OECD Secretary General Angel Gurría and other senior officials to discuss OECD’s priorities and its role in coordinating economic policies among its 34 member states and other nations.

Mr. Heeter, a principal with Deloitte LLP, was instrumental in organizing the visit.  Along with BIAC and USCIB, he enlisted support and participation from the TransAtlantic Business Dialogue, the Washington International Business Council and the Geneva-based Council for Multilateral Business Diplomacy.

In addition to Mr. Gurría, the executives met with OECD Deputy Secretary Generals Richard Boucher and Pier Carlo Padoan (who also serves as the OECD’s chief economist), Chief of Staff Gabriela Ramos (who is the OECD’s G20 sherpa), and a number of OECD directors and division chiefs.  Swedish Ambassador to the OECD Anders Ahnlid hosted a dinner in honor of the Business delegation.

Some two dozen business representatives took part in the visit, including executive from USCIB member companies Deloitte, DuPont, Microsoft, Nestle, Pfizer, Siemens, Unilever and the law firm Wiley Rein.  BIAC and USCIB staff were also a strong presence during the visit, with BIAC Secretary General Tadahiro Asami and USCIB Vice President Shaun Donnelly present throughout and co-hosting another dinner for participants.

The visit gave companies first-hand insight into the OECD, its structure and operations, and its work in important areas like financial regulation, international investment policy, the G20 process, anti-corruption Initiatives, global trade, health policy, and labor and social Issues.  It also served as an excellent introduction to the BIAC process, through which business officially consults with the OECD and its member governments on an ongoing basis.

Staff contact: Shaun Donnelly

BIAC website

USCIB China Mission Focuses on Green Growth

Published on April 3, 2012
Jianmei Feng of General Electric, co-chair of USCIB’s China Committee, addresses the Green Economies Dialogue session; USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson is at right.
Jianmei Feng of General Electric, co-chair of USCIB’s China Committee, addresses the Green Economies Dialogue session; USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson is at right.

USCIB members and staff were in China last month in a visit that focused on green growth topics and engaged with USCIB members in-country.

A highlight of the visit, which was led by USCIB President and CEO Peter M. Robinson and USCIB China Committee Co-Chair Tad Ferris (Holland and Knight), was a session of USCIB’s Green Economies Dialogue initiative that included Chinese business and government representatives.

Also involved in the mission were Jianmei Feng, the China-based co-chair of the China Committee, Justine Badimon, USCIB’s manager of China and APEC affairs, and Anna Zhang, USCIB’s director of Carnet claims administration.

USCIB launched the Green Economies Dialogue initiative last year to provide a forum for discussion of green growth topics among multiple stakeholders in the lead-up to the UN’s Rio+20 conference and beyond.  In addition to Beijing, dialogue sessions have been held in Washington and Paris, and two additional sessions are planned for April in Tokyo and Brasilia.

At the headquarters of the China Chamber of International Commerce (CCOIC), ICC’s China affiliate. L-R: USCIB China Committee Co-Chair Tad Ferris (Holland and Knight), Nicole Wang (CCOIC), CCOIC Deputy Secretary General Lin Shunjie, USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson, Justine Badimon (USCIB).
At the headquarters of the China Chamber of International Commerce (CCOIC), ICC’s China affiliate. L-R: USCIB China Committee Co-Chair Tad Ferris (Holland and Knight), Nicole Wang (CCOIC), CCOIC Deputy Secretary General Lin Shunjie, USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson, Justine Badimon (USCIB).

The Beijing Dialogue, jointly organized with USCIB’s China Committee and with strong input from the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD, assessed conditions to promote a greener economy in China, key opportunities for industry to enhance China’s efforts, and issues related to competitiveness in global markets.  The meeting also served as a platform to discuss areas for improvement and cooperation within the private sector, and private/public partnerships.

The event was highlighted by a keynote address from Zhou Hongchun, one of the Chinese government’s leading advisors and experts on green industry development policy, including structural adjustment, “circular economy” promotion, and industrial energy efficiency.  The event also featured a panel of industry experts and representatives, including Joerg Wuttke (BASF), chair of BIAC’s China Committee.

USCIB representatives also took advantage of the visit to meet with representatives of the China Chamber of International Commerce (CCOIC), our Chinese sister organization in the International Chamber of Commerce and the ATA Carnet system, which enables duty-free, tax-free temporary exports to some 80 countries and customs territories around the world.

For more information about the upcoming Green Economies Dialogue sessions, please contact Kira Yevtukhova (kyevtukhova@uscib.org).

Staff contact: Justine Badimon and Norine Kennedy

More on USCIB’s China Committee

More on USCIB’s Environment Committee

Green Economies Dialogue website

ICC Welcomes Banking and Business Executives in Doha to Discuss Trade Finance and Investment Concerns

Published on March 27, 2012
ICC welcomes banking and business executives in Doha to rethink the future of trade finance
ICC welcomes banking and business executives in Doha to rethink the future of trade finance

More than 400 banking and business executives from 50 countries met in Doha, Qatar to rethink the future of trade finance in a bid to encourage governments, regulatory bodies and G20 leaders to remove obstacles to trade finance and stimulate economic growth and job creation. Several U.S. executives took part, including USCIB Banking Committee Chair Michael Quinn, managing director of global trade services at J.P. Morgan Chase.

These bankers, business leaders and policymakers – gathered for the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Banking Commission bi-annual meeting, which ran from March 25-29 – met to take stock of current regulatory constraints jeopardizing the supply and demand of trade finance.

“It is crucial that, during this economic crisis, trade finance be freed up to promote economic growth, especially in the developing world,” said Sheikh Khalifa Al Thani, chairman of ICC Qatar and the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which hosted the meeting. “This would stimulate a well-functioning and effective private sector, thereby improving the conditions for investment and trade.”

Economic crises have negatively impacted trade finance in many countries over the past five years and conditions are still difficult in many regions. As trade finance markets become less liquid, the entire supply chain is affected with a particular toll being taken on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries.

“SMEs could be the engine of economic growth if given better access to investment through new regulatory frameworks for trade finance,” said ICC Banking Commission Chair Kah Chye Tan.

While ICC recognizes that it is important to improve the resilience of the financial system, it is also urging governments to take measures that make trade finance more accessible and affordable, and to avoid drafting regulations that may penalize trade.

ICC also held a policy consultation with its Banking Commission members in order to tap into their expertise on key business issues – including trade, investment and finance – ahead of the G20 Summit being held in Los Cabos, Mexico on June 18-19. The consultation is part of the ICC G20 Advisory Group’s ongoing efforts to gather policy priorities from business leaders and CEOs worldwide.

“The consultations we’ve held in Europe, North America, Asia and here in the Middle East ensure that businesses large and small have an opportunity to contribute their views and help shape ICC’s policy recommendations for input into the G20 process,” said ICC Secretary General Jean-Guy Carrier.

Discussion at the event focused on trade and finance market constraints, including demand, risks, pricing, availability of trade finance, currency exposure and US liquidity issues. Financial regulation and reform, and the impacts of Basel III on industry were of critical concern to participants.

Click here to read more on ICC’s website.

Visit the ICC G20 Advisory Group for more information on ICC activities ahead of the G20 Summit in Los Cabos.

Staff Contact: Eva Hampl

More on USCIB’s Banking Committee