News Stories Archives

Business Emphasizes Dispute Resolution at OECD Tax Consultations

Published on February 3, 2015

OECD public consultation meetings on the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project took place in Paris from January 21-23, 2015, where a number of key issues for business including Permanent Establishment (PE) Status (BEPS Action 7), Treaty Abuse (BEPS Action 6), Low Value-Adding Services (BEPS Action 10), and Dispute Resolution (BEPS Action 14), were addressed among business governments and NGOs.

BEPS refers to the G20/OECD initiative designed to rewrite global tax rules to prevent incidences of perceived under- or non-taxation of international companies.

At the consultations, BIAC Tax Committee Chair Will Morris emphasized the absolute importance of effective dispute resolution to a successful outcome for the BEPS Project. He also underlined the need for clarity in guidance regarding all BEPS outcomes. February consultations will address Interest Deductions (Action 4) and VAT B2C Guidelines (Action 1).

Carol Doran Klein, USCIB’s vice president for international tax counsel, participated in the OECD Public Consultation, representing U.S. business interests in BIAC’s work.

In support of its strategy to deepen developing countries’ engagement in the BEPS Project, OECD will also be organizing regional consultations during February and March in Peru, Korea, Turkey, Gabon and South Africa.  BIAC is submitting written responses to all BEPS Discussion Drafts.

What Skills do Corporate Directors Need?

Published on February 3, 2015

Good governance starts and is driven from the top. It is therefore essential that companies have an effective board. The responsibilities of the board are diverse and require a balanced team of directors with the right skills sets. As the OECD Corporate Governance Principles are being updated, and as they apply to a wider variety of ownership structures including majority-controlled and state-owned firms across the world, expectations of directors and their skills is likely to increase as well. To meet these expectations, the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD will organize a roundtable on director skills for effective corporate governance to encourage an exchange on how to obtain and continually enhance the optimal mix of director skills.

The roundtable will take place at the OECD headquarters in Paris on February 17 and will bring together key business experts from OECD and non-OECD countries for a discussion with OECD member countries and the OECD corporate governance secretariat. It will take place back-to-back with the consultation on the OECD Corporate Governance on February 19. BIAC’s most recent comments on the Principles are available on the BIAC website.

Speaker Announcement: Gil Kerlikowske, CBP

Published on January 30, 2015

icc/uscib customs and trade facilitation symposium: finding solutions to cross-border challenges

Keynote Speaker Confirmed:

R. Gil Kerlikowske

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We are pleased to announce that Gil Kerlikowske, Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, will be a keynote speaker at the ICC and USCIB Customs and Trade Facilitation Symposium from February 22 to 24 in Miami, Florida. As commissioner, Kerlikowske oversees the dual U.S. Customs and Border Protection mission of protecting national security objectives while promoting economic prosperity and security. His insights into international customs operations will be invaluable at the event.

R. Gil Kerlikowske was nominated by President Obama and sworn in on March 7, 2014 as Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection taking the helm of the 60,000-employee agency with a budget of $12.4 billion. As Commissioner, he runs the largest federal law enforcement agency and second largest revenue collecting source in the federal government. Most recently, he served as Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Mr. Kerlikowske brings four decades of law enforcement and drug policy experience to the position, including as Chief of Police for Seattle, Washington; as Deputy Director for the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services; Police Commissioner of Buffalo, New York; and in the police department in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Register Now!

ICC and USCIB Customs & Trade Facilitation Symposium:

Finding Solutions to Cross-Border Challenges

February 22-24, 2015

The Four Seasons Hotel | Miami, Florida, USA

Limiting cross-border friction is increasingly vital to smooth the flow of trade and boost competitiveness for all business, especially for small and medium sized companies and emerging industry sectors. This conference brings business, government, international organizations and operational customs and trade experts together from the world over for an important dialogue on the most effective means to ease the movement of goods and services between countries along supply chains.

Topics Will Include:

  • Best regional practices and global cooperation on single window initiatives
  • de minimis
  • Intellectual property rights, and supply chain solutions
  • Balancing security and trade facilitation
  • WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement: implementation and challenges

If you wish to register via fax or email, please click here for the registration form.

For questions please contact Diana Jack at djack@uscib.org or (202) 617-3156.

For information on how you can become a sponsor contact Abby Shapiro at ashapiro@uscib.org or (617) 515-8492.

IOE Perspective on ILO World Employment and Social Outlook

Published on January 28, 2015

4946_image002As the global economy contends with several diverging forces – including strong growth in the United States, falling energy prices, and continued struggles in Europe – policy makers and global institutions are seeking to make sense of conflicting signals.

One signal on worldwide employment levels comes from the International Labor Organization’s annual “World Employment and Social Outlook – Trends 2015” report, which covers data on employment trends and challenges. According to the report, the global employment gap continues to widen, along with income inequality.

The International Organization of Employers (IOE) believes the report paints an overly pessimistic scenario of worsening global unemployment levels, continuing inequality and falling wage shares.

USCIB’s global network, including the IOE and the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD, has engaged with the B20/G20 process on global labor and employment issues.

“Regarding employment and economic growth, the challenges faced by individual countries are subject to wide variations,” the IOE said in a statement. “Generalizations are unhelpful and tend to mask growth divergences across economies, which may engender misleading policy responses that treat cyclical dimensions rather than addressing longstanding and structural rigidities.”

The IOE also noted it is important “to diminish the progress made thus far in terms of income inequalities,” and that “perceptions of rising inequality should not be confused with the reality.”

The statement concluded with a call to action:

“Much more can nonetheless be achieved in terms of addressing the challenges linked to employment, inequalities and economic growth. A more ambitious effort needs to be made on skills mismatch through better tailored education and skills training. This would address global inequalities more efficiently and create an enabling environment for sustainable enterprises to foster job creation.”

Inclusive Growth in Asia-Pacific: USCIB Rolls Out 2015 APEC Agenda

Published on January 26, 2015

4942_image002The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum is the most influential high-level dialogue in the region. APEC convenes heads of state, business leaders and economic experts from 21 Pacific-Rim economies to share their views on how to promote free trade, innovation, growth and integration in the region.

The Philippines is the 2015 host economy, and it has organized APEC’s three Senior Officials’ Meetings and the APEC CEO Summit around the theme of “Building Inclusive Economies, Building a Better World.”

USCIB will be representing American business interests at the APEC meetings throughout the year. With our global network that includes the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the International Organization of Employers (IOE), and our membership in the U.S.-APEC Business Coalition, USCIB is uniquely positioned to give its members access to the policy dialogues taking place in one of the most dynamic regions of the world.

USCIB issued its “2015 APEC Priority Issues and Recommendations” in November outlining our longstanding and overarching objectives of promoting open markets, competitiveness and innovation, sustainable development and corporate responsibility. Covering a wide range of issues from chemical regulations to trade facilitation to women in the economy, USCIB will work to advance our APEC priorities throughout the Philippines host year.

USCIB Participation in APEC

SOM1 – Clark, Philippines

USCIB members will travel to Clark to attend the APEC Chemical Dialogue (CD), a forum for regulatory officials and industry representatives seeking to advance regulatory dialogue on the chemicals trade and achieve environmental protection while minimizing costs to business. Helen Medina, USCIB’s senior director for product policy and innovation, was scheduled to attend the summit but was unable to due to inclement weather in New York. She will attend the CD during SOM3, and will continue to review APEC’s ongoing efforts to promote regulatory cooperation in the APEC economies.

SOM2 and Meeting of the Ministers Responsible for Trade – Boracay, Philippines

USCIB is advancing work on global value chains within the Asia-Pacific, working with Ed Brzytwa, director for APEC affairs at the office of the United States Trade Representative, in supporting the U.S. government’s efforts to address barriers to trade and investment.

USCIB is also coordinating with ICC to issue a statement on localization barriers to trade urging APEC economies to adopt alternative policies that will enhance their competitiveness and attract foreign direct investment.

SOM3 – Cebu, Philippines

Kristin Isabelli, USCIB’s director of customs and trade facilitation, will attend a the meeting of the APEC Sub-Committee on Customs Procedures to share the private sector’s vision on the benefits of implementing guidelines that would streamline cross-border trade among APEC economies. Isabelli is also the private sector chair of the APEC Virtual Customs Business Working Group.

CEO Summit – Manila, Philippines

This is the fifth year that USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson will attend the APEC CEO Summit. USCIB will join business representatives from around the world to participate in bilateral meetings with senior officials from APEC economies to relay USCIB’s top priorities and coordinate across industries, sectors and borders.

Key 2015 APEC Events

  • SOM I – Jan  26-Feb 7 (Clark)
  • SOM II – May 10-21 (Boracay)
  • SOM III – Aug 24-Sept 8 (Cebu)
  • Women in the Economy Summit – Sept 16-18 (Manila)
  • Energy Ministerial and Private Sector Dialogue on Energy – Oct 12-14 (Cebu)
  • CEO Summit – Nov 15-17 (Manila)
  • APEC Leaders Meeting – Nov 17-18 (Manila)

Southeast Asia Tanker Hijacks Rose Despite Global Drop in Sea Piracy

Published on January 23, 2015

4944_image002Attacks against small tankers off Southeast Asia’s coasts caused a rise in global ship hijackings, up to 21 in 2014 from 12 in 2013, despite piracy at sea falling to its lowest level in eight years, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has revealed. Pirates took 442 crewmembers hostage, compared with 304 in 2013.

IMB’s annual piracy report shows 245 incidents were recorded worldwide in 2014 – a 44% drop since Somali piracy peaked in 2011. Somali pirates were responsible for 11 attacks, all of which were thwarted. However, IMB warns shipmasters to follow the industry’s Best Management Practices, as the threat of Somali piracy has not been eliminated.

Worldwide, 21 vessels were hijacked last year, 183 were boarded, and 13 fired upon. Pirates killed four crewmembers, injured 13 and kidnapped nine from their vessels.

“The global increase in hijackings is due to a rise in attacks against coastal tankers in Southeast Asia,” said Pottengal Mukundan, director of IMB whose Piracy Reporting Centre has monitored world piracy since 1991. “Gangs of armed thieves have attacked small tankers in the region for their cargoes, many looking specifically for marine diesel and gas oil to steal and then sell.”

Citing the death of one crewmember shot on his bitumen tanker in December, the IMB report highlights the possibility of the hijackings becoming increasingly violent. Most of the 124 attacks in the region were aimed at low-level theft from vessels using guns and long knives.

IMB offers the latest piracy reports free of charge. To request a PDF version of the report by email, please click here.

More on the ICC website.

 

USCIB Gives Feedback on OECD New Approach to Economic Challenges Project

Published on January 22, 2015
L-R: Rick Johnston (Citi), David Mallet (Wells Fargo), Tom Molitor (Wells Fargo), Mathilde Mesnard (OECD), Peter Robinson (USCIB) and William Hynes (OECD).
L-R: Rick Johnston (Citi), David Mallet (Wells Fargo), Tom Molitor (Wells Fargo), Mathilde Mesnard (OECD), Peter Robinson (USCIB) and William Hynes (OECD).

USCIB and member representatives met with officials from the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on January 22 at USCIB’s New York office to give feedback on the OECD’s New Approach to Economic Challenges (NAEC), aimed at updating the organization’s instruments and policy analyses.

USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson met with the main authors of the NAEC report, Mathilde Mesnard and William Hynes, along with member representatives from Citigroup, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase.

The informal meeting gave USCIB an opportunity to provide member feedback and concerns at this stage of the NAEC project.

USCIB is the American affiliate of the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD (BIAC), which acts as the voice of business in the OECD and has provided structured input to the NAEC project.

The OECD’s final synthesis report on its NAEC work will be delivered to OECD ministers in June 2015.

 

USCIB Urges WHO to Take Full Advantage of Private-Sector Engagement

Published on January 22, 2015
World Health Organization Headquarters, Geneva.
World Health Organization Headquarters, Geneva.

The sheer scale of global health challenges, such as the recent Ebola crises and the growing incidences of non-communicable diseases which are responsible for 60 percent of the world’s premature deaths, require everyone to be on board to address world health.

The World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations public health arm, recently issued a framework document on its engagement with non-state actors, the “NSA Framework”. USCIB and other associations are concerned that the framework is too stringent, as it would limit the WHO’s ability to fully benefit from the private sector’s practical expertise, resources and research.

Joining six other business associations whose memberships span every sector in every region of the world, USCIB signed a letter to U.S. Department of State officials highlighting the importance of strengthening private sector engagement with the WHO. The NSA Framework suggests that close engagement with the private sector would lead to conflicts of interest. Such concern is misplaced, as USCIB’s letter states:

“[T]he NSA Framework suggests that WHO engagement of private sector actors raises a unique potential for conflicts of interest, a premise that disregards the wide set of motives, including financial incentives, that drive NGO activity. In truth, engagement of for-profit entities and their representatives carries with it an inherent degree of transparency of interests that is not necessarily available regarding the motivations and interests of NGOs. Just as importantly, an examination of the motives of non-state actors is simply not necessary to an evidence-based review of the facts those actors may raise to the WHO’s attention.”

BusinessEurope, an association representing businesses in the European Union, sent a letter to EU representatives expressing similar concerns about the WHO’s NSA Framework.

Norine Kennedy, USCIB’s vice president for international engagement, energy and environment, added: “In an era where health crises become increasingly international, such as the recent Ebola outbreak, the WHO can only make full use of its leadership and resources by making global health responses a multi-stakeholder initiative in which the private sector has a vital role going forward.”

EU Reports on Investor Consultation Results in U.S.-EU Trade Agreement

Published on January 22, 2015

4937_image001On Tuesday, January 13, the EU Commission released its final report on the online public consultation on investment protection and investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) in the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). In response, USCIB issued a press release noting the importance of a strong investment chapter including ISDS in the agreement. USCIB also played a leading role in pulling together a group of 15 major business groups on both sides of the Atlantic to issue a joint statement that same day.

The commission launched the consultation in response to public concerns about whether the EU’s proposed approach for TTIP would achieve the right balance between protecting investors and safeguarding the EU’s ability to regulate in the public interest.

The commission – which issued a consultation questionnaire about 12 issues concerning investment protection and ISDS in TTIP – had received a total of nearly 150,000 replies by the July 13 deadline, with the vast majority (around 145,000, or 97%) submitted through various online platforms with pre-defined answers. Most replies were skeptical of investor protections and ISDS.  In addition to these mass-produced responses, there were also submissions from more than 3,000 individual citizens, and about 450 organizations, including USCIB.

According to the report, the commission received responses in three broad categories: statements indicating opposition or concerns to TTIP in general, concerns or opposition with regard to investment protection and ISDS in TTIP, and specific views in relation to the various aspects presented under each question, often accompanied by concrete suggestions for the way forward.

“The commission has not made a clear recommendation on how to move ahead with the negotiations,” said Eva Hampl, USCIB’s Director for Investment, Trade and Financial Services. “That suggests the volume of responses opposing investor protections in TTIP has not gone unnoticed.”

Instead of prescribing a concrete way forward, the commission merely noted four areas where they urge further improvements to be explored:

  • the protection of the right to regulate
  • the establishment and functioning of arbitral tribunals
  • the relationship between domestic judicial systems and ISDS
  • the review of ISDS decisions through an appellate mechanism

“Though not unexpected, the Commission report confirms that TTIP, particularly for investment and ISDS, will continue to be an uphill battle,” said Hampl.

USCIB submitted comments in support of an ambitious investment chapter including strong investor protection and ISDS representing the views of the U.S. business community.  USCIB also signed a joint statement with other U.S. and EU business associations upon the release of the report.

A high standard investment chapter including ISDS is crucial to a successful TTIP, and both the EU and the U.S. stand to gain significantly from a concluded agreement.

USCIB on the TTIP Front Lines

Published on January 20, 2015
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USCIB’s Shaun Donnelly addresses a panel with the Styrian regional parliament in Graz, Austria.

Passage of the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a free trade agreement between the United States and the European Union, would stimulate economic growth and create jobs on both sides of the Atlantic. The agreement has been criticized over the past several months by anti-trade groups, especially over investor protections such as investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS).

To counter this negative messaging, Shaun Donnelly, USCIB’s vice president for investment and financial services, has been traveling around Europe as an American speaker for TTIP on behalf of U.S. embassies, spreading the word about the benefits of a strong, comprehensive, high-standard TTIP for both the United States and the European Union.

Last week, Donnelly visited Austria and Slovenia and participated in speaking engagements, meetings and interviews with government officials, business leaders, journalists and student groups. Anti-TTIP groups refused to speak with Donnelly.

“Austria and Slovenia are among the more ýTTIP-skeptical of EU member states and anti-ISDS fever runs high,” said Donnelly. “Our U.S. embassies in each capital are working hard to get our side of the story out and I was glad to lend a hand with some key audiences.”

USCIB is working with its member companies to mobilize support for TTIP in Europe and is seeking opportunities to promote and explain the business case for TTIP.