Competitiveness and Innovation Archives

USCIB Promotes ATA Carnet as Tool for Department of Commerce

Published on April 17, 2018
Andy Shiles (left) with Under Secretary for International Trade, Department of Commerce Gilbert Kaplan (right)

USCIB joined a breakfast meeting in New York with the Under Secretary for International Trade with the Department of Commerce Gilbert Kaplan last week. NY District Department of Commerce Director Carmela Mammas and Joe Schoonmaker from the NY District Export Council (NYDEC) hosted the meeting, which was attended by Andy Shiles, USCIB’s senior vice president for ATA Carnet and trade services.

Kaplan discussed the effort of the Department of Commerce offices to reach out and collaborate with U.S. Ambassadors around the world to utilize Embassies for networking and meeting opportunities for American businesses to establish and strengthen business relationships in other countries to help stimulate international trade.

“There are exciting times in the world of international trade,” commented Shiles. “Under Secretary Kaplan received excellent comments from several representing the NYDEC. You can guess that we also discussed the use of an ATA Carnet as one of the tools the Department of Commerce should promote with small and medium sized companies as they strive to expand the international markets for US goods.”

Over 100 Business Representatives Lobby Senate on NAFTA

Published on April 17, 2018

Following previous successful NAFTA Senate Lobby Days, USCIB once again participated last week, joining more than 100 representatives from the agriculture and business community to talk about private sector concerns and perspectives regarding the ongoing negotiations to modernize NAFTA. The Senate Lobby Day, as in the past, was coordinated as a larger Coalition effort by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

“The purpose of this day was to increase support in light of the high-level talks among the NAFTA countries currently taking place in DC,” noted Eva Hampl, USCIB director for investment, trade and financial services. “There is concern in the business community about the Administration’s alleged push to conclude an agreement on an accelerated timeline.”

Hampl led one of the groups that went up to the Hill last week, where she met with several Republican and Democratic Senate offices throughout the day.

“While the various offices are certainly focused on NAFTA, they do not appear to have a definite action plan on what to do in the event of the potential negative scenarios that may take place, such as withdrawal from NAFTA 1.0 or an inadequate NAFTA 2.0.,” said Hampl.  “Also, while the Committee appears to get briefings from the Administration when they request it, the remainder of the Senators are not being briefed in a way that should be expected under TPA, given that the agreement is allegedly near conclusion.”

USCIB Supports US Candidate for Leadership Position at ITU

Published on April 9, 2018
Eric Loeb (AT&T), chair of USCIB’s ICT Policy Committee and Doreen Bogdan-Martin

USCIB and the U.S. International Telecommunication Union Association (USITUA) jointly organized a special roundtable discussion on April 5 in Washington, DC to hear a brief of Doreen Bogdan-Martin’s candidacy for director of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT).

The Roundtable attracted nearly 40 participants from both trade associations, as well as from the U.S. Government and the Washington, DC diplomatic community.

The U.S. Government will formally deposit Bogdan-Martin’s candidature prior to the ITU Plenipotentiary (PP-18), which will take place in Dubai in October. Senior U.S. Government officials have already indicated that one of Washington’s leading goals at the PP-18 is to secure Bogdan-Martin’s election to this post, highlighting her track record with the ITU, including being the chief architect of the Global Symposium of Regulators, coordinating the UN Broadband Commission, and recently launching ITU’s new gender empowerment initiative, EQUALS.

“Doreen’s candidacy is significant because she is the only female candidate for this position,” said Barbara Wanner who leads USCIB’s work on ICT policy. “Importantly, she brings 20 years of experience at the ITU, include 14 years in the Telecommunication Development Bureau, most recently as the Chief of ITU Strategic Planning and Membership. USCIB members strongly support Doreen’s candidacy, knowing that she will pursue the development agenda in a manner that thoughtfully considers all stakeholders’ views.”

During the course of the roundtable last week, Bogdan-Martin noted that the two most significant obstacles to connecting the remaining 3.9 billion people in the world who are still offline are the still-high costs for services and devices, as well as the lack of relevant content to stimulate demand for access and online services. “I envisage the BDT redoubling its efforts on digital inclusion, which is at the core of the 2030 Agenda,” noted Bodgan-Martin. “Together we will make the ITU-D a thriving, forward-looking community of Members served by a BDT known for quality, relevance, and practical solutions.”

Election of the director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) will take place at the ITU Plenipotentiary in Dubai later this year (October 29-November 16, 2018).

Hampl Advocates on SOE Issues at OECD Meetings

Published on April 2, 2018

USCIB Director for Investment, Trade and Financial Services Eva Hampl was in Paris the week of March 26 participating in various meetings surrounding the work of the OECD Working Party on State Ownership and Privatization Practices. The consultation with the SOE working party took place on March 27. Business at OECD (BIAC) used this platform to present comments on global reporting standards for internationally active SOEs, integrity and anti-corruption in state-owned enterprises, as well as the OECD working party’s program of work for 2019-2020.

“Addressing stakeholder and, particularly, business involvement is crucial,” said Hampl in her remarks. “The importance of the adherence to the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention to ensure government backing, the benefits of privatization, as well as the importance of a horizontal OECD work program cannot be overstated,” she said.

The SOE issue has been addressed in turn by various Committees of the OECD. During the consultation, BIAC learned that such horizontal activity is being pursued by the OECD. On March 28, BIAC participated in a discussion with members of the Working Party on the follow up to the special roundtable on SOEs and Integrity in October, and on the “building blocks” of future OECD Anti-Corruption and Integrity Guidelines for the state as owner of SOEs. Hampl reiterated the point about the importance of stakeholder input, highlighting that business is at the frontlines of these issues and should be regarded as a specifically relevant stakeholder. Following the discussion, Hampl attended a joint session with the Integrity Forum entitled Towards Anti-Corruption and Integrity Guidelines for State-Owned Enterprises.

Hampl Moderates Panel on Trade and Corruption in Paris

Published on April 2, 2018

USCIB Director for Investment, Trade and Financial Services Eva Hampl was in Paris the week of March 26, participating in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Global Anti-Corruption and Integrity Forum, during which she moderated a panel on “Integrity & Trade: No Need to Grease the Wheels,” which focused on the relationship between trade facilitation and opportunities for corruption at the border.

Other speakers included Senior Trade Policy Analyst at the OECD Evdokia Moise, Policy Director of Trade Negotiations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway Benedicte Fleischer, Capacity Building Director at the World Customs Organization (WCO) Ernani Checcucci, and Director, ABAC Governance and External Engagement at GlaxoSmithKline Gonzalo Guzman. Hampl noted the importance of trade running smoothly for USCIB member companies.

“Corruption is a cost to business and companies invest in compliance systems, however there are limitations to what business can effect internally,” said Hampl. “The customs border presents many opportunities for corruption. One vehicle to address these issues, of course, is the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement. USCIB has been very active in promoting the ratification of the agreement with U.S. FTA partners, as well as within the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). As always, implementation is the key, and robust implementation is required to achieve the full benefits of the agreement.”

Moise presented preliminary work by the OECD that is being conducted in this space, addressing issues like automation and the relationship to corruption. Following the presentation, panelists and audience participated in a debate to address the various issues surrounding the topic, including transparency, the TFA and other global efforts.

“The general consensus after the panel was that while much is already being done, still more must be achieved, particularly when it comes to collaboration between governments, business, and civil society,” noted Hampl.

Robinson: Governments Must Join With Companies to Foster Skilled Migration

Published on March 30, 2018
USCIB CEO Peter Robinson at the March 26 international dialogue on migration at UN headquarters

Global skills mobility is integral to business and economic growth, with labor migration having contributed an estimated four percent to global economic output in recent years. That was one of the key messages delivered by USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson at a March 26 international dialogue on migration held at UN headquarters in New York.

Robinson represented both USCIB members and the International Organization of Employers, which alongside the World Economic Forum spearheads private-sector input to the inter-governmental Global Forum on Migration and Development via a recognized “Business Mechanism.” He said companies know the value of skills mobility in their workplaces: fully 74 percent of corporate respondents in a recent survey by the Council for Global Migration reported that access to global skills is critical to attaining their business objectives.

By 2020, there is expected to be a worldwide shortfall of 38-40 million skilled workers, Robinson observed, and national migration systems need to adjust to address this need. Benefits of skilled migration accrue to both the countries receiving and sending migrants, he said. Many advanced economies are facing the labor impact of aging populations and falling birth rates, and must look abroad to fill worker shortages at all skill levels. And many countries rely on remittances from their citizens working abroad as well as the skills of returning migrants.

Companies operating at the global level are increasingly sensitive to potential abuses of migrant workers in their supply chains and are taking steps to address these, according to Robinson, who currently co-chairs the B20 Employment and Education Task Force. They are participating in an array of initiatives aimed at fostering fair and ethical recruitment, and are lending their expertise to helping national authorities better process immigrants and match employment opportunities with available workers.

Robinson underlined the commitment of business to this subject area and to the UN’s Global Compact on Migration. He urged governments and other stakeholders to partner with employers at the global and national levels to address the need for expanded skilled migration.

USCIB Urges US and China to Avoid Trade War

Published on March 22, 2018

Washington, D.C., March 22, 2018 – The United States Council for International Business (USCIB), which represents America’s most successful global companies, responded to the Trump administration’s plans to impose tariffs on billions of dollars of Chinese exports along with restrictions on Chinese investment in the United States. USCIB expressed continued concern over Beijing’s trade abuses while also urging the administration to tread carefully to avoid a trade war.

“We support the goal of getting China to stop its unfair trade practices and treatment of U.S. intellectual property,” said USCIB President and CEO Peter M. Robinson. “We are encouraged to see that the administration is considering a range of tools in addressing these concerns, including WTO dispute settlement. However, we remain concerned that potential new U.S. measures and Chinese retaliation will hurt American companies, workers, farmers and consumers.“

President Trump today announced his intention to impose tariffs on some $50 billion of exports from China under Section 301 of the 1974 trade act, in response to intellectual property violations and other trade abuses. Specifically, he instructed the office of the U.S. Trade Representative to publish, within 15 days, a list of proposed Chinese goods that could be subject to tariffs, while the Treasury Department will have 60 days to recommend steps to restrict Chinese investment in the United States.

“It’s been said that nobody wins a trade war,” Robinson added. “That would be especially true of a trade conflict between the world’s two largest economies. Escalation of the current dispute would severely impact our members, who rely on sales in both markets and who maintain complex global supply chains encompassing both countries as well as many others. These overseas sales and supply chains support millions of jobs in the United States.”

Robinson concluded: “We therefore urge the Trump administration to carefully consider the actions it takes pursuant to this Section 301 report, and we encourage both governments to work together to resolve these unfair trade practices before taking steps that will damage both economies.”

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, generating $5 trillion in annual revenues and employing over 11 million people worldwide. As the U.S. affiliate of several leading international business organizations, USCIB provides business views to policy makers and regulatory authorities worldwide, and works to facilitate international trade and investment. More information is available at www.uscib.org.

Contact:
Jonathan Huneke, USCIB
jhuneke@uscib.org, +1 212.703.5043

“Illicit Trade” Work Heating up at OECD

Published on March 20, 2018

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Governance Committee’s Task Force on Illicit Trade is raising its profile and tempo of work and increasing its effort to include the private sector in that workstream.

USCIB Vice President Shaun Donnelly led Business at OECD’s (BIAC) participation in the first of two days of Task Force meetings in Paris on March 15-16 with strong participation from USCIB member companies and other private sector representatives.  Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Christa Brzozowski is one of the two new co-chairs for this OECD Task Force, driving this important OECD work and providing strong senior-level U.S. government leadership.

“Illicit trade is a broad and elastic concept, including but not limited to pirated, counterfeit, “gray market”, and smuggled goods but also illicit movement of arms, drugs, antiquities and endangered species as well as and human trafficking,” commented Donnelly.  “As the OECD steps up its policy and coordination efforts to combat illicit trade, strong, broad and proactive private sector involvement will be essential.  BIAC and its national committees, including USCIB, will play the key role in making this process work.”

USCIB Delegation Contributes to Extending a Global Pact on Chemicals

Published on March 20, 2018
Mike Michener (USCIB) and Sophia Danenberg (Boeing)

A global framework for chemicals that was to end in 2020 will be extended and include the sound management of associated industrial waste, government officials from around the world agreed at a summit in Stockholm which ended Thursday, March 15. The meeting, hosted by the Swedish government and attended by representatives of UN member states, NGOs and business and industry, aimed to draw up a global strategy for managing waste and chemicals based on agreed international standards.  Mike Michener, USCIB vice president for product policy and innovation, Sophia Danenberg of Boeing, chair of the USCIB International Product Policy Working Group, and Frank Mastrocco of Pfizer represented U.S. downstream users of chemicals as part of the private sector delegation.

Global cooperation in chemicals is currently governed by the UN-backed global initiative, the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM), but this only extends to 2020.  Sweden wants SAICM to be replaced with a global deal, similar to the Paris Agreement for climate.  The meeting decided that existing principles of SAICM should be retained beyond 2020, including risk reduction and illegal international traffic.

“This was the first meeting, so nothing is decided,” stated Michener. “The countries that participated all agreed they want to work jointly on extending an international agreement on the management of chemicals and waste, and that a global deal approved at the highest levels is necessary. Now the SAICM co-chairs will begin work on a zero draft of a new agreement, to be approved by member states sometime before 2020.”

 

ICANN Focuses on Compliance of Registration Data and Privacy

Published on March 19, 2018
Barbara Wanner, fourth from left, at ICANN 61 along with fellow ICANN Business Constituency Executive Committee members.:
Steve DelBianco (NetChoice); Phil Corwin (VeriSign); Claudia Selli (AT&T); Barbara Wanner (USCIB); Jimson Olufuye (AfICTA)

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which is responsible for ensuring the security, stability and resilience of the domain name system (DNS), held its Community Forum in San Juan, Puerto Rico on March 10-15. The Forum attracted over 2,000 participants from business, government, civil society, and the technical community from 150 countries, including USCIB Vice President for ICT Policy Barbara Wanner. Over 300 sessions delved into a range of topics relating to the Internet’s addressing and identifier systems. Last year’s implementation of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) drove discussions throughout the week-long meeting.

Wanner, who also serves as the business constituent representative to the Commercial Stakeholders Group (CSG), was able to provide greater input to policy discussions at the executive committee level on behalf of USCIB members and facilitated important meetings with senior ICANN officials and key constituencies.

The focus of the Forum was an ICANN interim model aimed at ensuring that ICANN and the industry of more than 1,000 generic top-level domain registries comply with existing ICANN requirements concerning the collection of registration data (known as the WHOIS database) as well as meet the EU’s privacy protection requirements. Business participants also surfaced a proposal to establish an accreditation mechanism to enable third party access to data for law enforcement, consumer protection, brand management and intellectual property protection purposes.

“The implications of the GDPR on ICANN’s WHOIS database policies dominated discussions throughout the week-long meetings,” commented Wanner. “The clock is running out on the May 25 implementation of the GDPR, so all stakeholders engaged in discussions with a sense of urgency,” she observed.

On March 8, ICANN proposed the so-called Calzone interim model, an approach that ICANN maintained endeavors to strike a balance between proposals put forward by various community stakeholders.

“Commercial business users raised concerns with the interim model, however, maintaining that it is overly broad in scope and does not sufficiently support legitimate public interests in allowing access to certain data for law enforcement, consumer protection and intellectual property protection,” commented Wanner.  “In order to gain access to this non-public data, business users proactively proposed a mechanism that would enable accredited users to gain access to the data they need to pursue legitimate business and public interests.”

Working through the business constituency and Commercial Stakeholder Group, USCIB will engage with other ICANN stakeholders in coming weeks to refine the accreditation model so it can be utilized when the GDPR formally goes into effect in late May.