USCIB Hosts ICC ATA Carnet Administrative Committee Meeting 

Last week, USCIB hosted the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) World Chambers Federation (WCF) ATA Carnet Administrative Committee (ATAC) in New York.

Chaired by USCIB Chief Operating Officer Declan Daly and Henk Wit (Netherlands Chamber of Commerce (KVK), the discussions revolved around important topics such as the 2024 ATA Carnet work plan, preparation for the global transition of e-ATA (digital ATA Carnet), ATAC composition, global issuing and claims statistics, new members’ accession, and ATA Carnet administration.  

This biannual meeting gathered participants from 13 national guaranteeing associations. 

“USCIB was delighted to host this year’s spring ATAC meeting at USCIB’s NY office, particularly since it has been nearly a decade since we held a U.S.-based meeting,” said Daly. “I look forward to this year’s work plan and the exciting milestones we have already achieved this year, namely the first ever test processing of a digital ATA Carnet last month at JFK.” 

Last month, USCIB helped coordinate a highly successful U.S. digital ATA Carnet (e-ATA) test processing at John F. Kennedy Airport in collaboration with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Roanoke Insurance Group Inc. and Rock-it Cargo. This first e-ATA test in the United States was done in conjunction with the London Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) and UK Customs (HMRC), which processed the e-ATA for import at London’s Heathrow airport. 

USCIB Welcomes New Staff in Communications, Legal Affairs, Finance & Administration  

USCIB welcomed several new staff members across the New York and Washington DC offices over the past two weeks. 

Most recently, USCIB welcomed Anna Hughes as Vice President of Communications. Hughes has over twenty years’ experience in communications, marketing and public relations having held various positions at Twitter, BSA | The Software Alliance, American Composites Manufacturers Association (ACMA) and Ogilvy. Hughes will be based in the Washington office. 

Earlier this week, USCIB also welcomed Jason File as USCIB’s new Director of Legal Affairs, based in New York. Along with his Arbitration Committee responsibilities, File will also serve as General Counsel for USCIB. Prior to joining USCIB, File was a senior associate in the Arbitration group at Cooley LLP, focusing on high-stakes arbitration, including investor-state arbitration, international commercial arbitration, mass arbitration claims and corporate executive disputes. File’s previous positions include serving as a war crimes prosecutor at the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, and an international arbitration associate at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP in London.  

Finally, Andrew Julia joined as the new Director of Finance & Administration. Andrew brings over 15 years of experience in financial management, accounting, and administration in the non-profit sector. He joins us from the Baryshnikov Arts Center, Inc. where he was the Director of Finance & Human Resources. Prior to this, Andrew worked at the American Federation of Musicians & Employer’s Pension Fund where he held various accounting and audit roles. He is a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Employee Benefit Specialist. Julia will work out of USCIB’s New York office.           

 

Rick Minor Testifies at House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Tax

L-R: Megan Funkhouser (Information Technology Industry Council), Rick Minor, Gary Sprague (Baker McKenzie), Daniel Bunn (Tax Foundation)

USCIB’s Tax Counsel Rick Minor testified on March 7 at the Hearing before the U.S. House Committee on Ways & Means Subcommittee on Tax, “Ensuring the Biden Administration Puts Americans First.”  It was the first Congressional hearing on the current Pillar One proposals of the OECD Two Pillar solution project.

“The message from the U.S. should be that discrimination against U.S. companies should not be permitted in any case,” emphasized Minor during his oral testimony. “Fiscal measures specifically targeted at U.S. multinationals should never be a legitimate tax policy choice in a stable international tax system.”

Minor also told the Subcommittee Members that a Pillar One solution that does not effectively eliminate double taxation in its application is not sustainable and that U.S. industry is concerned that the current design of Amount B falls short of the stated objectives of the OECD in its original blueprint.

Minor with Mike Kelly

“We can imagine a reality in which these rules can exist in some form, if the final rules stabilize the international tax system,” added Minor.

On behalf of USCIB, Minor encouraged the Biden administration and U.S. Congress to remain engaged in the OECD process.

House Committee on Ways and Means Tax Subcommittee Chairman Mike Kelly (PA-16) led the meeting before the 18 member Subcommittee. Minor’s testimony was one of four from the private sector; other witnesses included Megan Funkhouser, senior director of Policy, Tax and Trade at the Information Technology Industry Council, Gary Sprague, partner at Baker McKenzie and Daniel Bunn, president and CEO of the Tax Foundation.

USCIB Celebrates International Women’s Day and Joins UN in Calling for Continued Investment in Women 

New York, NY, March 8, 2024 — The United States Council for International Business (USCIB) celebrates International Women’s Day. USCIB also welcomes the United Nations’ 2024 theme of “Invest in women: Accelerate progress” and believes that investment in women is a human rights imperative.  

USCIB and its members have long championed the critical role of gender equality, support for female change-makers and implementation of gender-responsive financing. USCIB is also proud to be led by Whitney Baird, the first female President and CEO in the organization’s 79-year history, as of September 2023. 

“Through our engagement in the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the International Organization of Employers (IOE) and Business at OECD (BIAC), we will continue to work with our business counterparts around the world to address gender equality barriers that continue to confront women and girls and to accelerate progress for women everywhere through adequate investment and effective policies,” said USCIB Director for Corporate Responsibility and Labor Affairs Ewa Staworzynska. 

About USCIB: 

USCIB promotes open markets, competitiveness and innovation, sustainable development, and corporate responsibility, supported by international engagement and regulatory coherence. Its members include U.S.-based global companies and professional services firms from every sector of our economy, with operations in every region of the world. As the U.S. affiliate of the International Chamber of Commerce, the International Organization of Employers and Business at OECD (BIAC), USCIB provides business views to policy makers and regulatory authorities worldwide and works to facilitate international trade and investment. More at www.uscib.org. 

USCIB Advocates for US Business Interests at OECD Responsible Business Conduct Events in Paris

Jose Arroyo

The OECD hosted its annual Forum on Due Diligence in the Garment and Footwear Sector late last month, along with a series of side events on responsible business conduct (RBC) workstreams. This year’s OECD Forum addressed various issues, with a particular focus on living wages and binding company-union agreements in due diligence processes.

In recent years, the OECD has intensified its work in RBC standards and guidance for companies. USCIB, with its in-person engagements and partnership with Business at OECD (BIAC), advocates to ensure that those workstreams, especially those closely related to labor affairs, are consistent with parallel initiatives in other international agencies, such as the International Labor Organization (ILO).

“It is critical that the OECD ensures that new standards are implementable on the ground,” said Jose Arroyo, policy manager for Corporate Responsibility and Labor Affairs at USCIB, who represented U.S. business at the OECD. Arroyo underscored the pioneering role of U.S. businesses in RBC practices and emphasized the importance of clear, concise, and implementable guidance for business. Some of the OECD work includes guidance on responsible purchasing practices and meaningful engagement with workers via due diligence.

Arroyo emphasized the importance of OECD cooperation with other non-OECD countries, particularly in high-risk geographical zones where divestment risks are prevalent. “Meaningful cooperation and implementable standards are essential, ultimately benefiting local communities”, he said.

USCIB will maintain its strong engagement with OECD RBC workstreams.

 

USCIB Joined Multi-Association Letter Opposing Expansion of WTO TRIPS Waiver 

USCIB co-signed a multi-association letter to the Biden Administration at the end of February strongly opposing the proposed expansion of the WTO TRIPS waiver to cover COVID-19 diagnostics and therapeutics. The letter was addressed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, USTR Katherine Tai, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and White House Chief of Staff Jeffrey Zients.  

The letter advanced the same arguments USCIB made in its submission last year to the U.S. International Trade Commission (Investigation No. 332-596) on the TRIPS waiver extension: the extension would undermine innovation, global health security as well as research and development for products that are fundamental to fighting global crises. USCIB was deeply disappointed with the TRIPS waiver for COVID-19 vaccines announced at the WTO in June 2022. Extending the waiver to diagnostics and therapeutics would further erode international rule of law.

As such, USCIB welcomed the outcome at the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi last week to table this proposal.  

For nearly 30 years, the WTO TRIPS Agreement has served its role well in providing the global legal architecture for supporting and driving innovation,” said USCIB Senior Vice President for Trade, Investment and Digital Policy Alice Slayton Clark. “The waiver extension would have represented a virtual death knell not only for the pharmaceutical industry but also for innovative industry writ large.” 

 

USCIB Represents US Business at 6th Session of the UN Environment Assembly  

Chris Olsen and Agnes Vinblad

The 6th Session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-6) concluded on March 1 in Nairobi, Kenya. After extensive and, at times, challenging negotiations, Parties adopted 15 resolutions, two decisions and a Ministerial Declaration. According to USCIB Director of Environment & Sustainable Development Agnes Vinblad, UNEA-6 outcomes advance work on further strengthening cooperation for national implementation of multilateral environmental agreements, the sound management of chemicals and waste, enhanced regional cooperation on air pollution, solutions for strengthening water policies, combatting land degradation and more.

As the highest decision-making body on the environment, UNEA decisions shape the global policy agenda across all Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs). This session of the Assembly was held under the theme “Effective, inclusive and sustainable multilateral actions to tackle climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution” with an overall focus on how to increase synergies between MEAs to solve the triple planetary crises.  

USCIB holds official observer status to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and has been active participants in the UNEA process since its inception in 2014. The USCIB delegation to UNEA-6 included Vinblad, USCIB Policy Manager for Trade & Regulation Chris Olsen and USCIB member company Enveda Biosciences’ Director of Policy and Development Tendai Chisow.

Joining over 5,600 people from across 190 countries at UN Environment Programme (UNEP) headquarters in Nairobi, USCIB advocated for constructive business considerations and engaged through the UNEP Business and Industry Major Group – the formal UNEP constituency group for business.  

“The strong outcomes from UNEA-6 yet again shows the critical importance of multilateralism,” said Vinblad. “In a world fraught by conflict and economic uncertainty, the ability of Member States to come together in agreement to work together towards solving some of our most urgent global challenges certainly sends a strong signal on the key role that Multilateral Environmental Agreements continues to play.”   

The 2024 Assembly also included the first ever MEA Day on February 28, which highlighted the role of agreements such as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the Paris Agreement. 

The 13th WTO Ministerial Conference Falls Short But Delivers Some Wins for Industry

Renewal of e-commerce moratorium and intellectual property rights secured

New York, N.Y., March 04, 2024—The United States Council for International Business (USCIB) welcomes outcomes from the WTO 13th Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi on two key objectives for U.S. industry: a two-year extension of the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions and a rejection of efforts to waive intellectual property protections for COVID-19 diagnostics and therapeutics.

“If the moratorium had expired it would have been an historic setback, representing an unprecedented termination of a multilateral agreement that has allowed the digital economy to take root and grow over the past 25 years,” said President and CEO Whitney Baird who represented USCIB at the ministerial last week. “USCIB is similarly pleased that the WTO failed to extend a TRIPS waiver to diagnostics and therapeutics, a move that would have undermined innovative industries, global health security and international rule of law.”

Another positive outcome, according to Baird, 72 nations officially adopted the Joint Statement Initiative on Services Domestic Regulation, simplifying rules for over 90 percent of the world’s trade in services. USCIB joined the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), for which it serves as the U.S. national committee, in welcoming the move. The agreement text had been concluded in December 2021. USCIB also hails progress at the WTO mapping out linkages and exploring best practices in consultation with industry on trade related aspects of circularity, climate, plastics and other policies aimed at advancing sustainability goals.

The outcomes in Abu Dhabi were mixed, however. USCIB is disappointed that MC13 failed to deliver agreements on agriculture, dispute settlement and fisheries, adding uncertainty to a multilateral trading system already under intense strain. “USCIB looks forward to working with the WTO to deliver outcomes in these sectors favorable to U.S. industry,” said Baird. “As the cornerstone for open, fair and reliable global trade, the WTO is too important to industry to fail.”

USCIB was on the ground in Abu Dhabi with a strong showing of member companies and the ICC, promoting robust digital and innovation safeguards, U.S. leadership on disciplines for sustainable trade, and enhanced roles for plurilateral negotiations and stakeholder engagement at the WTO.

About USCIB
USCIB promotes open markets, competitiveness and innovation, sustainable development and corporate responsibility, supported by international engagement and regulatory coherence.  Its members include U.S. based global companies and professional services firms from every sector of the economy, with operations in every region of the world, generating $5 trillion in annual revenues and employing over 11 million workers worldwide. As the U.S. affiliate to several leading international business organizations, including the ICC, USCIB provides business views to policy makers and regulatory authorities worldwide and works to facilitate international trade and development. More at  www.uscib.org.

USCIB Issues 2024 Priorities and Recommendations for APEC

USCIB has issued this year’s priorities and recommendations that USCIB and its members would like to see advanced in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). This annual priorities document reflects critical issue areas across USCIB’s primary workstreams related to APEC. USCIB has always been a longstanding and steadfast contributor to APEC workstreams and stands ready to provide business inputs to advance APEC goals and objectives for 2024 and beyond.   

APEC also reflects USCIB’s longstanding and guiding objectives of promoting open markets, competitiveness and innovation, sustainable development and corporate responsibility, supported by international engagement and regulatory coherence.  

“USCIB values the committed partnerships that APEC has established with the private sector to address the many economic opportunities available to foster greater integration between APEC’s member economies,” said USCIB Senior Vice President for Trade, Investment and Digital Policy Alice Slayton Clark. 

“We laud the excellent work accomplished during the 2023 U.S. APEC host year and look forward to an equally productive 2024, exploring new topics for outcomes and deliverables as Peru takes the helm,” added Clark.  

Baird Contributes to Business at OECD’s Consultation With OECD Leadership

USCIB President and CEO Whitney Baird

USCIB President and CEO Whitney Baird joined business leaders from Business at OECD’s (BIAC) expansive global network for BIAC’s Annual Consultation with OECD leadership and ambassadors in Paris. The theme for this year’s consultation was Charting the Course for Competitiveness, urging the OECD to reinforce the competitiveness of market-based democracies.

Baird served as a business speaker on a discussion around inspiring a better future globally.

“In an increasingly geopolitical setting, business looks to the OECD and member governments for meaningful cooperation, pragmatic diplomacy, and effective inclusive multilateralism,” she said.

Rick Johnston

BIAC Chair Rick Johnston (Citigroup), who also serves on the USCIB Board and chairs USCIB’s Trade and Investment Committee, led the delegation. Johnston also underscored BIAC priorities for OECD policymaking, stressing the need for the OECD to put a clearer spotlight on the cost and ease of doing business in its member countries.

According to BIAC, this strategic engagement at the outset of the year sets the tone for follow-up business advocacy with the OECD and its 38 Member States; BIAC is now preparing for the annual OECD Ministerial Council Meeting in May, which will be chaired by Japan.