News Stories Archives

G20 Leaders Make Broad Commitments to Expand Trade, Resist Protectionist Policies

Published on September 9, 2016

G20G20 leaders held their annual summit in Hangzhou, China on September 4-5.  USCIB participated in the B20 Trade and Investment taskforce this past year, and we were pleased to see that the G20 leaders statement included support for several issues on trade that were part of the B20 recommendations.  Some of the key aspects of the statement:

  • G20 leaders committed to ratification of the Trade Facilitation Agreement by the end of 2016 and called on other WTO members to do the same.
  • They committed to advancing negotiations in the WTO on issues remaining from the Doha Development Agenda  and recognized the need to discuss in the WTO other issues that may be of common interest to members and of importance to today’s economy.
  • Leaders reiterated their opposition to protectionism and extended their commitments to standstill and rollback of protectionist measures until the end of 2018.
  • Those participating in the Environmental Goods Agreement negotiations welcomed the landing zone achieved in the EGA negotiations and reaffirmed their efforts to conclude by the end of 2016.
  • Leaders endorsed the G20 Strategy for Global Trade and Growth, under which the G20 will lead by example to lower trade costs, harness trade and investment policy coherence, boost trade in services, enhance trade finance, promote e-commerce, and address trade and development.

Following the summit, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), for which USCIB serves as the American national committee, issued a statement calling on G20 leaders to match their actions to their words to push back against a rising tide of protectionism worldwide.

“In the current environment, it will be critical for the G20 governments to follow through on these and the other commitments they made in their communique,” said Rob Mulligan, USCIB’s senior vice president for policy and government affairs. “We will be working directly with the U.S. government and, through ICC, with other governments to press for effective action.  We will also look to engage with German B20 leaders as Germany hosts the G20 for the coming year.”

What Does Fintech Mean for Startups and Incumbents?

Published on August 30, 2016

Finance Disrupted BannerIn today’s financial services landscape, innovative collaborations between established firms and start-ups surviving disruption. This fall, join editors of The Economist and more than 275 financial services leaders, innovative thinkers and disruptive entrepreneurs at Finance Disrupted, to ask: to succeed in the fintech revolution, must you collaborate or die?

Click here to learn more and view the agenda.

Some of our notable speakers participating in the event include:

  • Jeremy Allaire, Founder, chairman and chief executive, Circle
  • Mike Cagney, Chief executive, chairman and co-founder, SoFi
  • Thomas Curry,Comptroller of the currency, US Department of Treasury
  • Usama Fayyad,Chief data officer, Barclays
  • Neil Hiltz,Head of financial services, global vertical strategy, Facebook
  • John E. Schlifske,Chairman and chief executive, Northwestern Mutual
  • Alexa von Tobel,Founder and chief executive, LearnVest.com

Save 15% on the current available rate when you register with our special code, USCIB15. Please note that rates will increase after September 23rd 2016.

Register here.

Business Pushes for TFA Ratification at G20 Summit

Published on August 29, 2016

International flagsPromoting robust trade and investment is a key focus of the B20 2016 policy recommendations to the G20 summit, which will take place in Hangzhou, China on September 3 and 4. Business recommendations include improving the global investment environment, strengthening the multilateral system and rolling back protectionist measures. USCIB and several of its members contributed to the recommendations. According to Rob Mulligan, USCIB’s senior vice president for policy and government affairs, G20 governments can take one easy step to boost growth.

“The upcoming summit is an important opportunity for the G20 to push for the ratification of the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement by the end of this year,” Mulligan said. Once implemented, the TFA has the potential to increase global exports by up to $1 trillion per year, according to the WTO’s World Trade Report.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) also published a set of business recommendations for sustained economic growth ahead of the G20 summit.

Additionally, President Obama will promote the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) during his upcoming trip to China and Laos in early September, according to a White House statement released on August 18. As part of Obama’s Asia trip, he will attend the G20 summit and use use the visit as an opportunity to discuss a wide range of global and regional issues, including adoption of TPP.

“This visit also will support the President’s efforts to expand opportunities for American businesses and workers to sell their products in some of the world’s fastest-growing markets,” the White House said in a statement. “Central to this effort is the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the high-standards trade agreement that will unlock key markets to American exports and cement America’s economic leadership in the Asia-Pacific.”

Obama’s push for TPP comes at a time of growing skepticism that the trade agreement will be approved before election day in November. Both Republican and Democratic nominees for president oppose the agreement.

USCIB Attends APEC Digital Trade Policy Dialogue

Published on August 29, 2016

APEC_Digital_TradeHelen Medina, USCIB’s vice president of product policy and innovation, recently attended the Trade Policy Dialogue on Digital Trade at the Third Senior Officials Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Peru.

The objective of the meeting was to discuss digital trade rather than to define the terms of digital trade. Participants included representatives from the U.S. government, various APEC economies, OECD, and industry, including several USCIB member companies.  Provided below is a brief summary of the meeting.

The dialogue was made up of several sessions, each focusing on a different topic within digital trade. The first session discussed the research on the value of digital trade, as well as challenges posed by issues of data privacy and cross-border data regulation. The second session focused on the EU’s data privacy framework and its potential burdensome impact on APEC SMEs.

Highlights from another session included shared stories from USCIB members PayPal and Walmart on their successes within the digital trade sphere. PayPal discussed the importance of their business for SMEs; through PayPal, smaller companies are able to do business globally because people trust sending payments through their services. Walmart shared their current experience of incorporating digital information to create better services for their customers, and the necessity of open data for this process. This session also recognized the potential for growth in APEC’s future role due to its cross-regional and interagency nature, in creating policies that best help digitization of traditional economies and promote legal environments for innovation.

To follow up from this Trade Policy Dialogue, a report will be submitted to APEC’s Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI).

Digital Trade: Barbara Wanner, bwanner@uscib.org

USCIB APEC Priorities Paper (here): Elizabeth Kim, ekim@uscib.org

Government and Business Discuss Updates on Chemicals Management at APEC

Published on August 18, 2016
APEC Chemical Dialogue
APEC Chemical Dialogue regulators forum

The chemicals trade cuts across many industries, and its products are widely traded across borders. The chemicals industry is a key economic building block in Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum economies, and the APEC Chemical Dialogue (CD) serves as a forum for regulatory officials and industry representatives to find solutions to challenges facing the chemical industry in the Asia-Pacific region. It reflects APEC members’ recognition of the importance of engaging with the private sector and building public-private sector dialogue and cooperation for mutual benefit.

Government and industry representatives from 16 economies across the Asia-Pacific region attended the CD meeting in Lima, Peru on August 17 during APEC’s third senior officials meeting (SOM III). Helen Medina, USCIB vice president for product policy and innovation, participated in the dialogue along with USCIB members. During the meeting, officials agreed to revise the CD Strategic Framework document, which includes changes to the dialogue’s shared goals. The framework’s current goals include (1) expand and support cooperation and mutual recognition among chemical regulators in the region to facilitate trade; (2) enhance understanding of the chemical industry’s role as an innovative solutions industry; and (3) encourage chemical product stewardship, safe use, and sustainability.

During the meeting, the group discussed how it will promote the Best Practice Regulation
Checklist which was developed to assist APEC economies when considering changes to
chemicals regulation and when developing new chemicals regulation. The hope is that the
checklist will provide best practices for regulators.

Also noteworthy is the development of a form of self-certification by importers of chemical products, a project which is being conducted alongside the APEC Subcommittee on Customs Procedures.

“The project would develop a certification document to be used by economies that puts the burden of compliance with chemical control legislation on the importer of record and with enforcement of that legislation with the agency who issued the regulations,” Medina said.

The CD also discussed updates on an upcoming paper to examine chemical trade flows, possible contributions to the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management policy and the American Chemistry Council’s proposal on sustainable chemistry. During the meeting participants also shared updates on countryspecific initiatives on chemicals management. For detailed information on these items, please contact Helen Medina, hmedina@uscib.org

USCIB Attends 2016 APEC Senior Officials Meeting in Peru

Published on August 15, 2016

Lima_PeruComprised of 21 Asia-Pacific economies that account for 40 percent of the world’s population and half the world’s trade, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum is the region’s top economic dialogue dedicated to encouraging economic growth, regional cooperation and trade and investment.

USCIB members are continuing to make the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) a priority forum in which to engage, as it is key to accelerating regional economic integration as well as promoting balanced, inclusive, sustainable, innovative and secure growth.

To aid private sector engagement, USCIB works with the U.S. APEC business coalition to meet with APEC officials and participate in APEC meetings throughout the year, culminating in the APEC CEO Summit, a meeting of CEOs and leaders from the APEC economies.

To direct and facilitate the work with our members and APEC officials, USCIB has compiled its annual priority issues and recommendations paper, which can be found here. As can be seen in our priorities, USCIB in actively engaged in a number of the APEC working groups related to Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) ICT, Chemicals and Customs.

Two of USCIB’s policy team are attending the third APEC Senior Officials Meeting and related meetings (SOM III) in Lima, Peru, held August 15-28. See details below for how they and our members will be engaging:

Customs and Trade Facilitation

Megan Giblin, USCIB’s director for Customs and trade facilitation will be participating in the following APEC meetings: APEC Business – Customs Dialogue (ABCD); Subcommittee on Customs Procedures meetings, under her role as co-chair for the Customs Virtual Working Group; the APEC Alliance for Supply Chain Connectivity (A2C2) meetings; as well as an event that Peru will be hosting related to the implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement. Megan will continue advocacy work initiated at SOM I related to WTO TFA ratification as well as engagement on implementation efforts, establishing and fostering relationships with Customs officials from APEC economies as well as members of industry, and identifying linkages to the work underway within the USCIB Customs and Trade Facilitation Committee, including, but not limited to, e-commerce, de minimis, and single-window efforts.

Gilbin serves as the industry Co-Chair to the APEC Subcommittee on Customs Procedures Virtual Working Group (VWG), which is comprised of both customs officials and members of the private sector. The VWG will not meet in person at SOM III, but Megan will give the VWG update during the SCCP meetings. Additionally, Megan is a member of the A2C2, which is focused on capacity-building efforts and the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement. Given that several USCIB members are part of the Customs VWG and the A2C2, Giblin will continue to consider ways to increase industry engagement and potentially reduce duplicative industry resource or input requests.

Chemicals Management 

Helen Medina, USCIB’s vice president for product policy and innovation will be attending the APEC Chemical Dialogue (CD) meetings.  She will be supporting USCIB members attending the CD-related meetings which include: the American Chemistry Council, American Petroleum Institute, The Boeing Company, General Electric and the Nickel Institute. The CD serves as a forum for regulatory officials and industry representatives to find solutions to challenges facing the chemical industry in the Asia-Pacific region. It reflects APEC members’ recognition of the importance of engaging with the private sector and building public-private sector dialogue and cooperation for mutual benefit. USCIB members have found this forum a valuable place to promote their regional business priorities. For example, USCIB members will be participating in the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS) capacity building workshop. The goal of the workshop is to

  • Raise awareness of the international trade obligations of GHS
  • Raise the level of knowledge on the aims and methodologies to implement GHS by government and the private sector; and
  • Determine the proper APEC actions to reduce non-tariff barriers (NTB) attributable to GHS implementation

Digital Trade

USCIB member Christopher Hoff (Crowell & Moring LLP), will be participating in the SOM III meetings of the Electronic Commerce Steering Group (ECSG) and the Data Privacy Subgroup (DPS) on behalf of USCIB. Importantly, USCIB ICT Policy Committee Vice Chair Joseph Alhadeff (Oracle), who also chairs the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Digital Economy Commission, tapped Hoff to lead the ICC Delegation at the ECSG and DPS meetings. ICC enjoys special guest participatory status in the ECSG.

The ECSG meetings, August 15-16 and 19, will feature a workshop, “E-Commerce for Inclusion and Competitiveness.” The program will explore such issues as the use of new technologies to reach new customers who do not have access to financial services, the importance of policies to promote social inclusion through the use of e-commerce, and the importance of cloud computing and data services as tools in the digital economy. The ECSG Plenary, August 19, will include further development of an ECSG strategic plan, which will entail establishment of a Big Data Innovation Friends of the Chair (FOC) group and review of the 2008 APEC Digital Prosperity Checklist, among other issues.

DPS meetings, August 17-18, will continue to expand APEC economies’ understanding of and participation in the Cross-Border Privacy Rules system (CBPR). The DPS likely will revisit SOM I discussions of a communications strategy that more effectively explains the benefits of the CBPR system.

The CBPR system, endorsed by APEC leaders in 2011, is a voluntary, enforceable privacy code of conduct for data transfers by information controllers in the Asia-Pacific region, which implements the nine APEC Privacy Principles, requires third-party certification, and is enforceable by Privacy Enforcement Authorities of member economies. Perhaps most importantly, the CBPR system was conceived to preemptively discourage APEC economies from imposing unreasonable data flow restrictions on companies.

Reflecting the extent to which economic activity has become “digitalized,” APEC’s Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI), which meets August 19, 23, and 24, will continue its year-long exploration of the opportunities and challenges of digital trade. Medina will represent USCIB interests in this meeting.

The APEC Trade Ministers acknowledged in their May 18 statement that digital trade indeed facilitates cross-border trade, innovation and economic growth. The CTI’s second Trade Policy Dialogue, “A New Digital Trade Agenda,” to be held August 19, is aimed at fleshing this out further, with an eye toward securing the endorsement of APEC Leaders that digital trade constitutes a next-generation trade and investment issue. The August 19 Dialogue will tackle an agenda that includes: (1) examining research undertaken by the APEC Secretariat that may suggest the possible scope of future digital trade work in APEC; (2) considering the elements of an enabling environment for digital trade; (3) highlighting case studies that offer useful practices for advancing digital trade; (4) exploring potential challenges economies face as they navigate the ever-changing digital and Internet environment, and (5) zeroing in on how recent trade agreements have sought to address digital trade challenges.

SOM III will also include a Workshop on Advertising Self-Regulation. Through ICC participation at the workshop, USCIB lends support to the efforts to improve advertising standards throughout the APEC region, and to provide input to APEC economies on the use of regulation and self-regulation, including the ICC Marketing Code.

If you would like any further information on the above meetings or issues, please feel free to reach out to our team.

Customs: Megan Giblin, mgiblin@uscib.org
Chemicals: Helen Medina, hmedina@uscib.org
ICT and Data Privacy: Barbara Wanner, bwanner@uscib.org
Marketing and Advertising: Jonathan Huneke, jhuneke@uscib.org
APEC priorities: Elizabeth Kim, ekim@uscib.org

Business Urges China to Revise Cybersecurity Laws

Published on August 12, 2016

Cyber security concept with lockUSCIB joined a group of 45 business organizations from around the world warning the Chinese government that it would harm business operations and restrict trade if it implements proposed cybersecurity and insurance rules.

A letter the group sent to Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on August 10 urges China to live up to its role as the host of this year’s G-20 leaders summit in September to promote the meeting’s goals of creating an “innovative, invigorated, interconnected and inclusive world economy.”

“[T]he current drafts, if implemented, would weaken security and separate China from the global digital economy,” USCIB and others stated in the letter. “To that end, we urge both The Law and The Provisions be revised to encourage international policy models that will support China’s development as a global hub for technology and services. This will assure a legacy of an innovative, invigorated, interconnected and inclusive world economy from China’s G20 presidency.”

Read the letter.

Pro-Investment Policies Really Matter!

Published on August 4, 2016

International flagsThe OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) is the premier international body where major foreign donors discuss development policy issues and coordinate their assistance programs.  The DAC just released its 2016 Annual Report “The Sustainable Development Goals as Business Opportunities,” with a special focus on the key role the private sector and foreign direct investment (FDI) can play in economic development of poorer nations.  The DAC report was unveiled last Month in New York during the United Nations’ High-Level Political Forum, where USCIB member companies and the International Chamber of Commerce played a lead role in highlighting the efforts business is making to support the UN Sustainable Development goals (SDGs).

Shaun Donnelly, USCIB’s vice president for investment and financial services, was one of the outside commentators representing a wide range of views invited to offer opinion pieces sprinkled throughout the DAC report. Donnelly’s piece, “Pro-Investment Policies Really Matter,” argues that foreign direct investment can be a major contributor to economic development only if the recipient countries have the right pro-investment policies and a strong rule-of-law culture.

Read Donnelly’s Pro-Investment Policies Really Matter

Read the OECD DAC Report: The Sustainable Development Goals as Business Opportunities

Check out USCIB’s coverage of the report here.

 

Taking Stock of Business Conduct

Published on July 28, 2016

The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises are the most comprehensive international instrument for responsible business conduct and are supported by a unique implementation mechanism of National Contact Points (NCPs) established by adhering governments.

NCPs have been part of the MNE Guidelines since 1984. However it was the 2000 review that gave them a stronger role to deal with all matters relating to the Guidelines, including resolving issues related to non-observance. Since then, the number of complaints against companies has been on the rise.

To take stock of the experience over the last 15 years, the OECD has conducted an analysis of the functioning and performance of the NCP mechanism. The full report was published at the end of June on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the MNE Guidelines.

The Sustainable Development Goals as Business Opportunities

Published on July 21, 2016

SustainabilityThe scale and ambition of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) create a tremendous opportunity for the private sector to demonstrate the central role it plays in human prosperity. Business will serve as an essential partner to meet the challenge of achieving the SDGs.

The recently unveiled OECD Development Co-operation Report 2016: The Sustainable Development Goals as Business Opportunities, acknowledges the private sector’s role as a “powerful promoter of sustainable development”. It also highlights the opportunity for the governments to leverage private sector contribution, helping to manage risk and providing insights into effective policy and practice. The publication lists the enabling factors, as well as the constraints, for businesses and investors interested in addressing sustainable development challenges.

The report also provides guidance on responsible business conduct and outlines the challenges in mobilizing and measuring private finance to achieve the SDGs. Throughout the report, practical examples illustrate how business is already promoting sustainable development and inclusive growth in developing countries. USCIB and its global network contributed to the report:

  • Shaun Donnelly, USCIB’s vice president for investment and financial services, contributed an article titled “Pro-Investment policies really matter!” about the link between good investment policies and development (p. 61 in the report).
  • Louise Kantrow, the International Chamber of Commerce’s permanent representative to the United Nations, highlighted the shared interests between the business community and the development community in her piece, “Sustainable development challenges are business challenges.” (p. 28 in the report)
  • And during the report’s launch event, USCIB Vice President for Labor Affairs, Corporate Responsibility and Governance Ariel Meyerstein showcased the influential Business for 2030 website, an initiative by USCIB highlighting the contributions from the private sector in helping to achieve the SDGs.

More details, including ways to access the report can be found on the OECD Website.