Whitney Baird Archives

Heads of Western Hemisphere ICC Chapters Chart Course for the Future

Published on November 14, 2014
Leaders of ICC’s Americas National Committees meeting with ICC secretary general John Danilovich (back row center, in red tie) with USCIB President Peter Robinson (back row, second from left) in Bogota, Colombia.
Leaders of ICC’s Americas National Committees meeting with ICC secretary general John Danilovich (back row center, in red tie) with USCIB President Peter Robinson (back row, second from left) in Bogota, Colombia.

Leaders of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) national committees in the Americas convened in Bogota, Columbia on Wednesday to review issues and priorities with ICC Secretary General John Danilovich, and to review institutional development within the region.

During the meeting, USCIB’s President and CEO Peter Robinson gave a presentation on the upcoming ICC and USCIB Customs and Trade Facilitation Symposium in Miami in February, which generated interest among attendees. He also covered the ICC’s program of action on trade and investment, supporting high standards in multilateral investment agreements, highlighting the importance of investor protections in trade agreements and stressing the power of national committee collaboration in promoting key issues like the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement. He also stressed the importance of business input into UN deliberations including the post-2015 Development Agenda and climate change negotiations.

Leaders expressed a desire to improve communication of ICC position statements to governments. Robinson noted that good messaging is important for national committees to raise their visibility with their governments and their members. He and the other national committee heads were grateful for the gracious hosting by the Bogota Chamber of Commerce and the secretary general of ICC-Colombia, Gustavo Andres Piedrahita.

Staff contact: Peter Robinson

Now Is the Time to Stand Up for Trade and Investment

Published on September 1, 2014

Trade is like a bicycle – it needs forward momentum to avoid falling over.

USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson
USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson

Last March, President Obama issued his 2014 U.S. Trade Agenda, which outlined ambitious priorities for expanding American trade and investment around the world, in support of expanded job growth and enhanced U.S. competitiveness. Part of the trade agenda’s ambition lay in an “all of the above” approach – that is, the United States would move forward on major bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral efforts to expand cross-border commerce, while securing bipartisan support for renewed Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) in Congress. We at USCIB applauded loudly and set about drumming up private-sector support.

More than six months on, while some progress has been made, I fear that we face a number of disappointments, potential setbacks and stiff challenges that have served to undercut the administration’s ambitions and the broader cause of expanded trade. Consider these developments:

  • In July, a small group of countries led by India blocked implementation of the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement, which was agreed last December at the WTO ministerial in Bali. This has sent the organization into yet another crisis, putting the brakes on the WTO’s whole post-Bali agenda.
  • Unfounded anxiety, some might say hysteria, has sprung up in Europe over certain aspects of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), such as the same strong investor-state dispute settlement provisions that already exist in numerous U.S. and European commercial agreements. The hysteria is threatening to upend these crucial negotiations, and could complicate efforts to negotiate a U.S.-China bilateral investment treaty.
  • Several countries, including the United States, are threatening to carve out certain sensitive areas from liberalization commitments under the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), as well as in the TTIP negotiations.
  • TPA legislation remains stalled on Capitol Hill, captive to Washington’s increasingly polarized, partisan divide.

All this is deeply disappointing. Expanding trade and investment is essential for economic growth and job creation. Indeed, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the Peterson Institute for International Economics estimate that the trade facilitation agreement alone would create 21 million new jobs worldwide. More broadly, it is increasingly clear that freeing up cross-border trade and improving conditions for FDI must be part of critical global efforts to address climate change and promote sustainable development.

After investing so much time and effort to champion the pro-trade consensus that now seems to be fraying, we in the business community have every right to be frustrated. Yet we must try to help our political leaders around the world pick up the pieces and get back to the negotiating table in Geneva, summon the courage to stand up for an ambitious approach to the TPP and TTIP negotiations, and move forward – after lengthy delays – on Trade Promotion Authority.

With that in mind, in October I joined USCIB (and ICC) Chairman Terry McGraw and ICC Secretary General John Danilovich in Geneva at the World Investment Summit. Convened by the UN Conference on Trade and Development, the summit was an important opportunity to look at how FDI can be leveraged for sustainable development, economic growth and jobs. In addition, both John and Terry have spearheaded an aggressive global campaign to help get the WTO back on track.

As this issue of International Business went to press, we joined with the OECD and its Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC) to organize a high-level conference in Washington, D.C. on new directions in trade and investment policy. The October 30 event showcased groundbreaking policy-related research from OECD on the rise of global value chains, trade in services and other aspects of the 21st-century global economy. We hope that the fresh ideas and new perspectives offered at the conference will help demonstrate the importance of moving forward to tackle today’s most pressing trade and investment barriers.

USCIB continues to play a leadership role pressing for strong, market-opening commitments in TPP and TTIP. We are also working closely with a broad-based business coalition to move forward on TPA. The old saying still holds: trade is like a bicycle – it needs forward momentum to avoid falling over. That is why it is more important than ever for business around the world to keep up the pressure on our political leaders to implement the Bali package, strive for ambitious, high-standards agreements with Asia and Europe, push ahead to negotiate a high-standard U.S.-China bilateral investment treaty, and get off the dime to pass meaningful Trade Promotion Authority.

Peter Robinson’s bio and contact information

Other recent postings from Peter Robinson:

What’s the Rush on Global Tax Reform? (Summer 2014)

Setting the Rules of the Road in Cross-Border Commerce (Spring 2014)

It’s Time to Clap with Both Hands on FDI (Winter 2013-2014)

Making Sure the Business Voice Is Heard in International Agencies (Fall 2013)

From the President: What’s the Rush on Global Tax Reform?

Published on June 1, 2014

In their haste to tackle “base erosion and profit shifting,” governments risk fostering the kind of unilateral action they are seeking to avoid.

peter-robinsonLast year, responding to concerns that multinational firms take advantage of gaps in the global taxation system to move income to lower-tax jurisdictions, the leaders of the G20 endorsed a plan put forward by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to counter what governments called “base erosion and profit shifting,” or BEPS.

This acronym has quickly risen to the top of many CEOs’ “worry list,” and made the annual tax conference we organized with the OECD in June (see story on page 3) even more popular than usual this year. But what’s behind the sudden rush to action in an area as contentious and fraught with complexity as global tax policy? And what might happen if governments get it wrong?

What constitutes “tax abuse”?

Tax is not a moral issue. Indeed, the OECD and others have said repeatedly that tax planning – including planning that results in base erosion and profit shifting – is entirely legal. Companies do not abuse the system by taking advantage of legal methods of reducing their taxes. Corporate tax reduction strategies have, however, caught the attention of politicians (and the public) at least in part because of the financial crisis and the resulting fiscal consolidation. There is – and should be – a policy debate about the appropriate level of corporate income taxes.

Each country has a sovereign right to make decisions about the amount of revenue it collects, and from whom. Indeed, the ability to make decisions about taxing and spending is a core element of statehood, and a country cannot give up that ability without surrendering its sovereignty. So, taxing rights are jealously guarded by countries. What then is the function of the OECD or any other multilateral organization in this core function?

In order to promote international trade and investment, countries need agreed-upon rules of the road to determine which country has taxing rights to how much income when goods or services cross borders. If there is no agreement, then uncertainty and double taxation will reduce trade and investment. The BEPS project arose out of concern that the rules for eliminating double taxation have gone too far and the pendulum needs to swing at least part of the way back.

It is important, however, to maintain sound principles for determining when a foreign company is subject to tax within a jurisdiction and how much of its income is subject to tax. Although the existing principles do not work perfectly, they have facilitated the development of cross-border trade and investment, and should not be abandoned lightly or in the absence of a new consensus. Any new consensus must be a true, detailed consensus where countries agree not just on a string of words, but on the meanings of those words.

Race to the finish line?

The first group of projects is now heading towards completion. These projects include work on intangibles as well as such seemingly esoteric topics as country-by-country reporting, tax treaty abuse, hybrids and the arm’s length principle. In today’s modern, highly integrated global economy, these issues are crucial for the operations of multinational companies and the administration of national tax systems.

While the OECD does not have legislative authority, there is substantial political will behind the BEPS project and wide support from the G20 countries, which are participating in the process on an equal footing with OECD member countries. But getting to a fair and reasoned outcome on a 24-month deadline is challenging, given the scale of its ambition and critical need for a consultative process with BIAC and other stakeholders to work toward consensus.

That’s why business must engage positively with the OECD, recognizing the public and political momentum behind change, and the continuing danger of unilateral action if the BEPS action plan falters. Moreover, there are many other pressing tax issues for U.S. legislators and policy makers. The challenge is to pursue these in concert with the reforms being undertaken via the BEPS process, with the goal of creating a simpler, fairer and more competitive tax system for everyone.

Peter Robinson’s bio and contact information

Other recent postings from Peter Robinson:

Setting the Rules of the Road in Cross-Border Commerce (Spring 2014)

It’s Time to Clap with Both Hands on FDI (Winter 2013-2014)

Making Sure the Business Voice Is Heard in International Agencies (Fall 2013)

A Trade Policy Renaissance (Summer 2013)

From the President: Setting the Rules in Cross-Border Commerce

Published on April 1, 2014

It’s not just governments that determine international trade and investment standards – the International Chamber of Commerce has been doing so for over 80 years.

USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson
USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson

From time to time, I like to showcase the activities of our global business network. As most readers know, USCIB is the American affiliate of three worldwide business groups: ICC, the International Chamber of Commerce; IOE, the International Organization of Employers; and BIAC, the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD. This network is part of what makes USCIB a uniquely valuable platform for our business members, and a vital source of industry views for policy makers.

ICC is the oldest of these groups, the “world business organization,” with national committees and direct members in over 130 countries around the world. ICC performs three essential functions: policy advocacy on behalf of global business, arbitration of cross-border commercial disputes, and rules setting. It’s this last role that I want to address in this column.

At the heart of international trade are rules, norms, standards and tools that help facilitate the daily flow of global commerce. Through its longstanding rules-writing function, ICC has developed a large array of standards, codes, voluntary rules and guidelines to facilitate business and foster best practices. These rules help reinforce business self-regulation becoming the standards by which industry agrees to conduct its business. They provide an invaluable service to companies around the world and are used in billions of dollars’ worth of transactions annually.

This rule-making started soon after ICC was founded in 1919. In fact, in the interwar period – when there was no GATT or World Trade Organization – ICC acted as a real international path-breaker, developing rules of the road on trade that effectively paved the way for later, binding agreements by governments following World War II.

Examples of this critical rule-making include the Consolidated ICC Code of Advertising and Marketing Communications. First developed in 1937, and most recently revised in 2011, the ICC marketing code is the most widely recognized model for national self-regulation of ad standards around the world. With rigorous standards on a variety of marketing practices and issues, it most recently served as the basis for new global guidelines on alcohol marketing and digital ad placement.

ICC’s International Commercial Terms, known as Incoterms®, are another example. First developed nearly 80 years ago, these shorthand terms help avoid  legal uncertainty by spelling out clear responsibilities between buyers and sellers in cross-border sales contracts, and have been endorsed by the UN Commission on International Trade Law. These terms, such as FOB (Free on Board), are regularly incorporated into sales contracts worldwide and have become part of the daily language of trade, the backbone of global commerce.

While little known outside the trade finance community, ICC’s Uniform Customs and Practices for Documentary Credits, known as UCP 600, and related rules were first issued in 1933 and have been updated and adapted regularly to provide essential standards and templates to lenders and borrowers looking to arrange letters of credit and other financing for exports and imports. ICC’s Banking Commission, which establishes and monitors these crucial rules, includes hundreds of trade finance professionals from around the world, with strong USCIB member participation. Its next semi-annual meeting takes place this November in Istanbul.

Based on industry need, ICC also authors various model contracts, guidelines for certificates of origin, and provides guidance on corporate anti-bribery measures. The USCIB International Bookstore offers many of these trade publications. (Coming soon: Using Franchising to Take Your Business International.) Visit www.internationaltradebooks.org to learn more about these essential titles.

USCIB members play leading roles in all of these ICC rules-setting exercises. But of course, you don’t need to be a member to take advantage of these tools. Companies large and small, all over the world, use and abide by ICC’s rules of the road. (Naturally, if you want to have a hand in developing them, you need to be a member of USCIB.) It’s just another example of the essential role played by the world business organization in the increasingly vibrant and integrated world of international trade and investment.

Other recent postings from Peter Robinson:

It’s Time to Clap with Both Hands on FDI (Winter 2013-2014)

Making Sure the Business Voice Is Heard in International Agencies (Fall 2013)

A Trade Policy Renaissance (Summer 2013)

The UN’s Development Agenda: Business Steps Up (Spring 2013)

 

From the President: Its Time to Clap with Both Hands on FDI

Published on December 1, 2013

U.S. officials say all the right things about inward investment. They must also support outbound FDI, which is critically important for U.S. exports, competitiveness and jobs.

By Peter M. Robinson

4728_image002We were delighted when, in early November, the U.S. Department of Commerce spearheaded a very successful “Select USA Investment Summit” aimed at wooing overseas investors to our shores. But while it was truly heartening to have the Obama administration fully and publicly on board with a strong message that inward foreign direct investment (FDI) is good for the U.S. economy –  for U.S. jobs, for our competitiveness, and for our communities – we could still do a lot more. The FDI glass is really only half-full in terms of administration policies, which seem to stress inward investment to the exclusion of outbound FDI by U.S.-based firms. We and the administration need to take a balanced approach to achieve the best results of this new push for FDI.

The Select USA Summit was a fantastic step in the right direction. It was great to have President Obama, Secretaries Pritzker, Kerry, Lew and Perez, plus U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and National Economic Council NEC ChairGene Sperling, all sounding a consistent pro-investment message. Leaders from USCIB member companies also spoke, including Andrew Liveris of Dow Chemical,Bill Simon of Wal-Mart USA, Joe Echevarria of Deloitte, Doug Oberhelman of Caterpillar, Bill Black of Fleishman-Hillard and others. They delivered a strong message, and we agree that the U.S. needs to jump into the fray at both the federal and sub-federal levels and compete to make America the most attractive global destination for FDI.

“Sayonara” to investment xenophobia

We are only eight years removed from  the Dubai Ports World (DPI) debacle of 2005, when congressmen and senators  from both parties sought to out-do each other in demonizing foreign investment in America’s infrastructure.  The Bush administration seemed stuck in neutral, unable or unwilling to articulate coherent pro-investment policies.  Some may even remember the anti-Japanese paranoia of the 1980s, fueled largely by xenophobia. We’ve come a long way from such narrow-minded thinking.

More encouraging, the real story today is outside Washington – in America’s states, cities, and towns, where inward FDI is planting new “greenfield” manufacturing and services enterprises, and reviving established companies, creating good jobs and fueling economic growth as well as tax revenues and new infrastructure.  We are clearly on an FDI roll, and it’s great to have the administration both celebrating it and doubling down to hone America’s investment competitiveness.

But we’re clapping with just one hand. A careful reading of high-level speeches and conference documents from the Select USA Summit suggests an administration still too timid when it comes to outward investment by U.S.-based firms.  In today’s globalized, supply chain-driven economy with competition sharper than ever, the feeling I get is that some in the administration and on Capitol Hill still seem trapped in the old, tired “outsourcing/exporting jobs” mindset.  U.S. firms, large and small, need to have the option of investing abroad to bolster their global competitiveness and grow good jobs here at home.

Outbound FDI drives exports, jobs, R&D at home

Several recent studies (including from USCIB and from the Peterson Institute for International Economics) show that increased FDI abroad by U.S. firms correlates with increased exports, job creation, R&D expenditures, and tax revenues here at home.  Investing abroad is good for the U.S. economy: it’s the only truly viable national strategy for U.S. competitiveness in today’s global economy, in which 90 percent of the world’s consumers and 75 percent of global GDP exist outside U.S. borders.  Our businesses need access to local elements of supply chains, to service outlets close to markets, and to key inputs and natural resources. Not investing abroad would force U.S. companies to compete with one hand tied behind their back.

There are numerous ways in which companies and the administration can utilize and support outward FDI, the most effective being agreeing on high-standard bilateral investment treaties (BITs). Far-reaching and inclusive BITs, including one with China currently under negotiation, will provide the groundwork for strong trade in both directions. Shaking hands with our partners on these high-standard treaties  –  the sooner the better – will give America a big advantage in spurring growth and jobs.

Nostalgia for the “good old days” when U.S. business had no international competitors, when we could make everything in America and ship it to the world, is certainly understandable.  But nostalgia can’t drive U.S. economic policy making.  We need U.S. economic policies, led by the administration, attuned to today’s economic realities, including the growth of global value chains. These have to include strongly pro-FDI policies – for both inward and outward investment.

Let’s get everyone pulling in the same direction, for consistent pro-investment policies to help American companies and American workers compete around the world.  Let’s start clapping with both hands on FDI!
Peter Robinson’s bio and contact information

Other recent postings from Peter Robinson:

Making Sure the Business Voice Is Heard in International Agencies (Fall 2013)

A Trade Policy Renaissance (Summer 2013)

The UN’s Development Agenda: Business Steps Up (Spring 2013)

A Network Like No Other (Winter 2012-2013)

From the President: Making Sure the Business Voice Is Heard in International Agencies

Published on September 1, 2013

The private sector needs to more fully engage with the UN and other international bodies; and those IGOs need to welcome business to the table.

USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson
USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson

Around the world, inter-governmental organizations (IGOs) – including, but not limited to, those in the United Nations system – play an important role in economic and social development. In so doing they exert substantial influence on national laws, policies and regulations. So how can business better engage with these bodies? This is something we think about a lot at USCIB.

We are privileged to be affiliated with the three main international business organizations – the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the International Organization of Employers (IOE), and BIAC, the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD. Each of these groups plays an important role as the voice of business in leading IGOs. Over the years, this global network has provided unparalleled opportunities for American business to listen and learn, to advocate, and to impact the international agenda in such areas as trade policy, conditions for investment, the environment, human rights, and tax policy, to name but a few.

It goes without saying that business has an important stake in the work of IGOs. At the same time, IGOs have a stake in business as well. In today’s world, policy makers and regulatory authorities need to understand how global business operates, and how to maximize the private sector’s positive role in fostering economic growth, job creation, environmental sustainability and improved well-being. This means that IGOs must maintain a healthy dialogue with outside stakeholders, including the business community, which is the key source of investment, jobs, growth, innovation, and know-how around the world.

Catalyzing business input

We are pleased to see new opportunities opening up for business in some IGOs – particularly in the areas of environment and sustainability. In certain areas, IGOs are evolving to provide enhanced access and new entry points for business and other stakeholders. The private sector brings important resources, experience and technology to the table, and is thus indispensable in successful policy formulation and implementation.

At the same time – after a period of strengthened public-private partnership over the past couple of decades, and in the wake of the financial crisis – we sense that there are renewed questions about the role of business in some international institutions. In some cases, agencies appear to be reluctant to engage with specific industries or the business community more broadly. In addition, there are differing approaches to private-sector consultation from agency to agency.

Since USCIB’s founding in 1945 – not coincidentally, we were born the same year as the UN – we have served on the front lines as a champion of business, both through our global business network and in our own right.Today, we are actively working with our member companies to prioritize and engage with key IGOs, to take advantage of and inform the most important intergovernmental policy deliberations on priority issues for business where USCIB has experience, access and influence. We are also considering ways in which we can help foster a more consistent and mutually beneficial consultative process between business and IGOs.

A forward-looking agenda

Specifically, we are working to strengthen and work more effectively through our existing international channels, taking steps to support the work of ICC,IOE and BIAC in their work with key international agencies. In this way, we hope to ensure that IGOs can benefit from the unique contributions of the private sector in such areas as trade and investment, job creation, green growth, technological innovation and human rights.

Sometimes, it makes sense to identify and secure new channels for business input to IGOs, both to further support the work of our global network and to focus on key areas of interest for our members. In recent years,USCIB has participated directly in the UN Environment Program, the UN climate talks, APEC and other international bodies. This has given us new visibility and access in those organizations. We will pursue similar such opportunities in other IGOs where our members’ priority interests are at stake.

USCIB is working to improve outreach and coordination with the White House, the State Department and other key U.S. government agencies as well as the U.S. ambassadors and missions to key IGOs. We are also supporting American business engagement with the UN secretariat – in New York, Geneva and elsewhere, on the Post-2015 Development Agenda and a variety of other issues.

We are confident that this enhanced engagement strategy will help demonstrate the private sector’s interest in dialogue with IGOs, and will foster a positive attitude toward business in many international agencies. You can look forward to further reports from the front lines in the coming months,and we welcome your suggestions as to where and how we should be concentrating our efforts.

Mr. Robinson’s bio and contact information

Other recent postings from Mr. Robinson:

A Trade Policy Renaissance (Summer 2013)

The UN’s Development Agenda: Business Steps Up (Spring 2013)

A Network Like No Other (Winter 2012-2013)

Lessons From the G20 and Rio+20 Summits (Autumn 2012)

From the President: A Trade Policy Renaissance

Published on June 1, 2013

International trade is back at the top of the global agenda, spurred by a realization that barriers to cross-border commerce are increasingly a tax on one’s own competitiveness.

USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson
USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson

After something of a lull during President Obama’s first term, liberalization of international trade and investment is back at the top of the global economic agenda. In the past few months we have seen:

  • the launch of talks on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the United States and the European Union
  • action in the World Trade Organization to harvest some of the low-hanging fruit from the stalled Doha Round
  • continued progress on the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks
  • and most importantly, strong bipartisan support for renewed U.S. Trade Promotion Authority.

There are many reasons for this “trade renaissance.” One is continued slow growth in the United States and many of our trading partners. Another is strong business advocacy, both in the U.S. and overseas, in support of opening up trade as a “cost-free” stimulus. Hats off to USCIB’s chairman, Terry McGraw, who recently took on the chairmanship of the International Chamber of Commerce, for pushing an ambitious trade policy at home and abroad, including championing the ICC World Trade Agenda (see page 4), which seeks to mobilize support for a variety of liberalizing measures in and around the WTO. But a critical factor in this newfound activity on trade is the realization among policy makers that, in a world of increasingly sophisticated global value chains, countries that don’t act to remove barriers to imports (and, in some countries, exports) as well as investment, or who fail to streamline their regulatory and administrative procedures to make it easier for foreign companies to set up shop, are shooting themselves in the foot. The OECD has been an important catalyst in this realization, serving as a central “brain trust” for research on what is being called “trade in value added,” or TiVA. At the OECD Forum in May, I participated in a panel discussion on TiVA that reviewed the findings of a new OECD paper on global value chains. Data from the OECD gives us a lot to think about. For example:

  • When services imbedded in manufactured goods are counted in our trade data, the overall services component of U.S. trade rises from about 20 percent to 40 percent.
  • The import share of U.S. export value has tripled in the last 30 years from 7 percent to 22 percent, while the global import content of exports is approaching a staggering 40 percent.

It is clear that the traditional “arm’s length” model of trade is increasingly a thing of the past. As Pascal Lamy, the outgoing director general of the WTO, has observed, when intermediate goods cross borders multiple times before becoming final products, protectionism “is even more stupid than we thought it was,” because import barriers essentially become an ever-increasing tax on one’s own exports.

Augmenting the OECD’s excellent work, we at USCIB recently joined with the Business Roundtable to publish new research from Matthew Slaughter of Dartmouth, examining how American companies participate in global supply networks, and documenting the significant economic and employment gains this participation brings to the United States (download the report here). This research, along with the OECD’s work on TiVA, can serve to better illuminate a path forward for policy makers.

A recent forum at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, D.C. examined the potential payoff from the ICC World Trade Agenda, which puts forward seven concrete, multilateral goals that could be achieved by 2015. These include concluding a WTO trade facilitation agreement, negotiating a new plurilateral agreement to free up trade in services and expanding trade in information technology.

Peterson experts Gary Huffbauer and Jeffrey Schott concluded that by simplifying customs procedures – through trade facilitation measures – alone, WTO member countries would deliver global job gains of 21 million, with developing countries gaining more than 18 million jobs and developed countries increasing their workforce by three million – and global GDP would be increased by almost $1 trillion. A services agreement would generate some eight million new jobs worldwide, including 1.4 million in the U.S.

Speaking at the Peterson event, Robert Zoellick, the former World Bank president and who earlier served as U.S. trade representative, applauded the ICC initiative as “a great pathway” to expanded trade in a world where global output is now evenly split between developed and developing countries, and where significant South-South trade barriers still remain.

It’s critical that countries take the right approach, and craft the right policies, to accommodate emerging global value chains and generate new jobs connected to burgeoning global markets. In particular, it’s important to address new and emerging issues like forced localization requirements, restrictions on the cross-border flow of data, unfair competition from state-owned enterprises, and customs impediments or barriers at the border.

These new trade initiatives provide ample opportunity to do this, but only so long as business leaders and policy makers can continue to demonstrate the leadership and wisdom to choose the right course, and tear down the barriers to growth and jobs.

Mr. Robinson’s bio and contact information

Other recent postings from Mr. Robinson:

The UNs Development Agenda – Business Steps Up

Published on April 4, 2013

The United Nations is embarking on a complex process to lay out priorities for post-2015 economic, social and environmental development. Here’s what you need to know right now.

By Peter M. Robinson

USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson
USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson

In 2000, world leaders gathered at the opening of the United Nations’ “Millennium Summit” in New York agreed on an ambitious to-do list for economic and social development – the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Setting themselves a deadline of 2015, they pledged to make meaningful progress toward, among other things, eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality and combating the spread of infectious diseases.

As we approach 2015, a lot of progress has been made. Thanks mainly to continued economic growth in China and other emerging markets, extreme poverty is on track to be more than halved worldwide. With a new influx of public and private funding, rates of new HIV/AIDS infection have fallen, as have worldwide deaths from the disease. Not every indicator has shown such positive results, and of course outcomes in individual countries vary widely. But on balance, while their ultimate contributions to development may be open to question, the MDGs have illustrated the possibilities of setting priorities and focusing resources toward achievable goals.

Although we believe that the UN did not adequately consult with business in developing the MDGs, many in the private sector took the MDGs as a guide, and set their own targets and initiatives to contribute to the progress. Companies such as The Coca-Cola Company, Pfizer and Procter & Gamble, to name a few, stepped forward with their own programs. The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has joined with the UN Development Program and the International Business Leadership Forum over the past ten years to recognize dozens of companies for such achievements with the World Business and Development Awards.

So, you may ask, what’s next? And why should I care? Good questions. There are a lot of things in play, and USCIB is working closely with our members, our global business network, the U.S. and other governments, and the UN system to monitor developments across the board. Here’s what you need to know right now.

 

Multiple efforts

At the broadest level, the UN will establish a post-2015 development agenda that encompasses not just economic and social priorities but a strong environmental component as well. As of this moment, there are multiple tracks, converging on high-level discussions in the UN General Assembly over the next two years.

At last summer’s Rio+20 Summit in Brazil, UN member states agreed to develop “sustainable development goals” to guide green growth policies. Part of these may be devoted to delivering on post 2020 climate change commitments, a key goal of the ongoing UN climate negotiations, a key priority of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Separately, the UN secretariat has laid out a sprawling consultative strategy to develop a Post-2015 Development Agenda encompassing 11 themes, 100-plus national consultations, new networks for stakeholders, etc. A high-level panel including Unilever CEO Paul Polman has been established to provide input from the business community and other groups.

USCIB will focus on the most influential potential outcomes and institutions. We have attended the first negotiating meeting of the UN group developing new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the successors to the MDGs, and will continue to follow that process closely. We are also taking part in the work of the UN Environment Program to help guide the development of metrics and indicators to gauge progress toward sustainability.

 

Business involvement is critical

This is an opportunity to learn from the earlier MDGs experience, and build in private-sector involvement to underscore the importance of economic development and governance issues. In addition, business believes a balance must be struck between environmental goals and economic growth so that one does not overshadow the other. It is important that we help the UN to get it right, and for that reason, the business community should be at the table. If the UN focuses on relevant, achievable benchmarks, that will ultimately enable business to prosper and help advance broader societal goals.

We are already working closely with each leg of our global network – ICC, the International Organization of Employers, and the Business & Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD – to develop meaningful, timely contributions to the UN’s post-2015 agenda. This is important, because the post-2015 development agenda will involve a panoply of UN specialized agencies (UNCTAD, FAO, WHO, etc.). It is essential that business be engaged across all of these efforts, and that all relevant UN agencies be open to productive dialogue with the private sector.

USCIB is also preparing recommendations to help inform the U.S. government’s contributions to the SDGs, reflecting the reality of how our members do business in global markets – and how they work to support contributing to green growth and sustainable development. This time around, if we can ensure that business is engaged in the process from the start, the results will be far more relevant and beneficial for humanity.

 

Mr. Robinson’s bio and contact information

Other recent postings from Mr. Robinson:

A Network Like No Other (Winter 2012-2013)

Lessons From the G20 and Rio+20 Summits (Autumn 2012)

Education for the 21st Century (Summer 2012)

 

A Network Like No Other

Published on December 1, 2012

USCIB provides members with access to the UN, OECD and other multilateral bodies, in order to advocate and represent business views.

USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson
USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson

In an increasingly interconnected world, it’s impossible to overstate the importance of the network. We network with professional colleagues, maintain networks of suppliers, allies and supporters, and plug into vast information networks, to run our businesses and manage our lives more efficiently.

One of USCIB’s most important assets is our unique global network, our affiliation with leading international business organizations, which provides USCIB members with official access to major multilateral bodies, and allows business to speak with authority in these forums and to national governments.

Much of the most recent issue of International Business is devoted to BIAC, the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD, which we honored with USCIB’s 2012 International Leadership Award on November 28, at a gala dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. Over the years – and especially under the leadership of BIAC Chairman Charles P. Heeter, Jr. and Secretary General Tadahiro Asami – BIAC has played an invaluable role in championing the interests of the OECD-area business community in this increasingly important multilateral body, which now groups the world’s 35 most advanced industrial economies. BIAC provides unmatched leadership and expertise within the OECD system on labor and employment, taxation, the future of the Internet, green growth, trade and investment, and many other topics.

USCIB’s Global Network

Open markets, competitiveness and innovation, sustainable development and corporate responsibility, supported by international engagement and prudent regulation
Open markets, competitiveness and innovation, sustainable development and corporate responsibility,
supported by international engagement and prudent regulation

There are two other crucial components to USCIB’s global network that play an important role in enabling USCIB to serve as an effective, vocal champion of American business around the world.

The International Chamber of Commerce, our oldest affiliated body, remains the original voice of business on the world stage, with official standing in the United Nations and many affiliated agencies. ICC’s long record of business advocacy within the UN system will be invaluable as the UN proceeds with an ambitious Development Agenda, the successor to the Millennium Development Goals. ICC’s high-level work with the G20, along with its efforts to restart serious discussion of the future of world trade, also warrant active engagement by USCIB members.

The International Organization of Employers, for which we have long served as the U.S. member federation, plays an increasingly important role on global labor, workplace and social affairs matters. The IOE’s official standing as business interface with the tripartite International Labor Organization (along with governments and labor), enables USCIB members to play a direct role in setting international labor standards. IOE also represents business views to G20 labor ministers, and it works closely with the International Organizations for Standardization and the UN Human Rights Council, among other forums.

USCIB members are already leveraging the power of our global network – BIAC, ICC and IOE – to advance American business interests on trade and investment policy, on tax policies, on the future of the Internet, on climate change and green growth, and in many other areas. Doing so helps promote their interests, and the interests of the broader business community, in securing sustainable growth, job-creation and other important societal goals.

The power of our network to help you grow your business and secure a better future is unmatched, but only if you use it. I urge all USCIB members to take full advantage of the resources and capabilities of these remarkable institutions.

Other recent postings from Mr. Robinson:

Lessons From the G20 and Rio+20 Summits (Autumn 2012)

Education for the 21st Century (Summer 2012)

Ensuring a Dynamic and Secure Internet (Spring 2012)

Green Growth: Getting the Policies Right (Winter 2011/2012)

From the President: Lessons From the G20 and Rio+20 Summits

Published on October 1, 2012

If addressing business needs is your yardstick, only one of this past summer’s big diplomatic events measured up.

USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson
USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson

Note: A version of this column, written with Norine Kennedy, USCIB’s Vice President for Environment and Energy, appeared in the Washington-based newspaper The Hill in July. It serves as a timely reminder of the importance of business representation in major international gatherings such as the G20 and Rio+20 Summits, and of USCIB’s central role in representing member views to governments through our global network.

Over the coming year, there will be many other summits – on climate change, the future of the Internet and many other issues. It is essential that the process of inter-governmental policy-making and rule-making be well informed with business views and input.  As always, we at USCIB look forward to facilitating that business presence.

Many in the media shrugged off the recent G20 summit in Los Cabos, Mexico and the United Nations’ Rio+20 earth summit in Brazil as failures, long on promises to speed economic recovery and promote sustainable growth, but short on actual commitments and deliverables.

As business representatives who took part in both events, we beg to differ.  While much remains to be done, useful lessons can be drawn from each summit to help us move forward.

The G20 summit resulted in a clear understanding that European governments must move beyond austerity in an effort to restart global growth, and developments in the eurozone since the summit have been somewhat encouraging.  Clearly the G20 is an important mechanism to coordinate responses in a crisis, and it is fulfilling that mandate once again.

G20 governments also renewed their pledge to avoid protectionist measures that could derail growth.  And the summit provided strong impetus to move ahead on bringing Canada and Mexico into the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks.

An active business role

In Los Cabos, even more than at previous summits, the business community played a very active role.  CEOs and other business leaders held their own summit, the B20, meeting with many of the G20 leaders.  The private sector put forward an agenda to spur growth by improving access to capital, rolling back trade and investment protectionism, and protecting intellectual property rights, among other measures.

Via the International Chamber of Commerce, business also unveiled a scorecard to hold G20 leaders accountable for living up to their pledges (an initiative that was actually welcomed by a number of government leaders).

In short, while the ultimate form and scope of business input to the G20 going forward remains to be determined, Mexico set a clear precedent that private-sector views should be sought out and can be successfully integrated into the summit process.  This is important, because the full cooperation from the business community is essential to implement and follow up on decisions made by G20 leaders.

Focus on results

The results were a bit more mixed at Rio+20.  Here is our scorecard:

  • First, what gets measured gets managed, and we were pleased that UN members agreed to develop better metrics and indicators to gauge progress toward a greener economy.  But companies still want a commitment to use trade as a “carrot” rather than a “stick,” to keep markets open and encourage developing countries to realize the positive side of moving to more sustainable models of development.
  • Second, business requires predictability in order to plan and invest for the future.  While the final outcome document in Rio recognized the need to square economic and environmental policies, and the importance of R&D, it was skewed to environmental, rather than economic, approaches.  The Rio+20 process clearly would have benefited from greater participation from economic, commerce and trade ministries.
  • Finally, we were disappointed that the Rio+20 outcomes almost completely ignore the need for business to be involved in the process of building a greener economy.  If we truly want to re-launch growth and lay the groundwork for a better, more sustainable world for our children, the private sector needs to play a major role.

Overall, the G20 and Rio+20 summits underscored the importance of having a manageable process and reasonable expectations going into major summits.  We would say that Los Cabos passed that test, while Rio rated an “incomplete.”

 

Other recent postings from Mr. Robinson:

Education for the 21st Century (Summer 2012)

Ensuring a Dynamic and Secure Internet (Spring 2012)

Green Growth: Getting the Policies Right (Winter 2011/2012)

Supply Chain Challenges (Fall 2011)