Competitiveness and Innovation Archives

USCIB Urges Trump Administration to Remain Engaged in UN Climate Talks

Published on April 26, 2017

With senior advisors in the Trump administration set to meet tomorrow to discuss U.S. engagement in the UN and other international climate change discussions, USCIB has urged the administration to keep the U.S. seat at the table.

Earlier this month, in a letter to the White House, USCIB President and CEO Peter M. Robinson wrote: “In spite of challenges and shortcomings in the UN climate policy arena, USCIB reaffirms its support for the United States to continue as a Party to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement.”

However, USCIB’s letter, which was sent April 17 to National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, explicitly recommended that the U.S. place a number of conditions on continued engagement, including reassessing existing U.S. emissions reduction and related commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement in the context of broader consultation with the private sector.

The letter further recommended that the U.S. insist on greater access and transparency in the UN climate negotiation process for U.S. economic stakeholders, call on the UN to discourage unilateral trade measures related to climate, and work through the UN and other international forums to foster speedier development and deployment of environmentally sound technologies.

“Addressing climate change and its impacts will require a long-term international cooperative approach with due attention to national circumstances and priorities to assure ongoing economic development,” Robinson wrote. “USCIB members are convinced that U.S. engagement and leadership are required to champion economically sound approaches to energy and climate change risks that advance U.S. economic prosperity and create new job and market opportunities for U.S. businesses at home and abroad.”

USCIB Convenes Multistakeholder Roundtable on Business and Infrastructure for SDGs

Published on April 25, 2017
L-R: USCIB Vice President, Strategic International Engagement, Energy and Environment Norine Kennedy, USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson, and Ambassador Lisa Kubiske from the U.S. State Department

As the UN gears up for its annual high-level political forum (HLPF) to review progress on the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in July, the international community is turning its attention to SDG 9—building resilient infrastructure, promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialization and fostering innovation. The extensive role of infrastructure in achieving all 17 SDGs prompted USCIB to organize a ‘Business for SDGs’ roundtable on Infrastructure last Friday, April 21, hosted by Covington LLP in Washington DC.

Norine Kennedy, USCIB’s vice president for strategic international engagement, energy and environment and the lead for USCIB’s work on the sustainable development goals opened the meeting and served as the event’s master of ceremonies.  “USCIB’s SDG Working Group realized that no SDG can be delivered without the right ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ infrastructure, such as education, financial inclusion, food systems and healthcare, in place. The pipeline for bankable projects for both has to accelerate to broadly deploy and leverage business resources and know,” said Kennedy.

The event, held on the margins of the UN Financing for Development Infrastructure Forum, drew participants from government and business, including USCIB member companies AT&T, Bechtel, Citi, KPMG, MasterCard, and Monsanto as well as the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, NGO groups such as the Global Infrastructure Basel Foundation, and U.S. government representatives, notably Ambassador Lisa Kubiske from the U.S. Department of State who gave closing remarks.

The roundtable discussed obstacles to and best practices in public private partnerships for infrastructure projects, challenges in removing barriers or dealing with corruption, and the importance of scaling U.S. business investment, and the role of business in developing and utilizing SDG-relevant metrics. “There’s a huge financing gap, especially in terms of development and sustainable infrastructure projects around the world,” said Kubiske before citing U.S. government resources and initiatives that to de-risk and support U.S. companies competing for infrastructure projects, such as Power Africa.

“Investment in infrastructure is key to achieving a successful implementation of the SDGs,” emphasized Peter M. Robinson, USCIB’s CEO and president in discussing key takeaways from the roundtable. “We must actively search for ways to discourage governments from crowding out private investment; the implementation imperative requires scaling up business involvement and commercial opportunities. A first priority is to knock down obstacles to infrastructure investment, which can take the form of formal barriers to foreign investment in specific sectors or burdensome regulation affecting both foreign and domestic firms,” he said. Robinson’s remarks can be found here.

USCIB will host another roundtable on Innovation and SDGs in May in conjunction with the Financing for Development Forum.  Please see USCIB’s Businessfor2030 website for more information on the roundtable and other USCIB actions and engagement on the SDGs.

OECD Secretary General Briefs USCIB Members as World Bank/IMF Meetings Get Underway

Published on April 24, 2017
L-R: USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson, OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria, BIAC Vice Chair Rick Johnston (Citi), Rob Mulligan (USCIB), Susan Fridy (OECD)
L-R: USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson, OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria, BIAC Vice Chair Rick Johnston (Citi), Rob Mulligan (USCIB), Susan Fridy (OECD)

With the spring meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund bring finance ministers and other top officials from around the world to Washington, D.C., USCIB members on April 21 met with OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria at Citi’s offices in the capital.

The wide-ranging, off-the-record discussion covered priorities for the OECD as well as the G-20, for which the OECD has undertaken a variety of high-level projects since the 2008-2009 financial crisis. In the face of the ongoing populist backlash, Gurria reiterated the OECD’s fundamental support for open markets, as well as for policies to address the downside of global integration and technological change.

Gurria also looked forward to this year’s OECD Ministerial in June. Next week in Copenhagen, USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson and other members of Business at OECD (BIAC) will present their recommendations to OECD governments in advance of the ministerial.

Key topics at this year’s OECD ministerial are expected to include the digital economy, inclusive growth, migration, aging societies and the general backlash against globalization.

Gurria, who prior to becoming secretary general of the OECD served as foreign affairs and finance minister in the Mexican government, and who helped negotiate several market-opening trade deals with the United States and other nations, was honored earlier in the week by the Economic Club of Minnesota for his longstanding support of open trade. Click here to read his remarks at the event.

BIAC Releases Trade as a Priority for All Paper

Published on April 24, 2017

BIAC_Trade_Priorities_PaperAs populist discontent with international trade continues to percolate around the world, Business at OECD (BIAC) today unveiled a new paper, “Trade as a Priority for All,” with recommendations for OECD action to help build renewed support for cross-border trade.

Last December, Business at OECD convened a workshop of heads of communications from its member federations around the world, to consider ways to push back against the populist narrative. It consulted with its global membership, a network of over 2,800 business experts, and identified critical trade barriers and opportunities. The paper makes recommendations to the OECD and its member governments on the role they can play in curbing barriers and enabling opportunities.

The paper also provides a better understanding of the way companies do business, shedding light on the hurdles they face at the border and in the global marketplace and provides recommendations on improving policymaking and creating better conditions for private sector-led growth, innovation and job creation.

“This paper is crucial in conveying priorities of the business community for OECD analysis and policy recommendations, especially given the rise in anti-trade rhetoric globally,” said Rob Mulligan, USCIB’s senior vice president for policy and government affairs, who is attending consultations with the OECD Trade Committee as well as an OECD conference on trade communications this week in Paris. “USCIB supports the recommendations in this paper, including those of eliminating localization requirements, ensuring open cross-border data flows and improving international regulatory cooperation.”

Doran Klein Attends UN Tax Committee Meetings

Published on April 17, 2017

UN headquarterUSCIB’s tax expert Carol Doran Klein attended meetings at the UN related to tax policy earlier this month along with USCIB’s Tax Committee Chair Bill Sample. A major outcome of the meeting was the launch of the 2017 version of the UN Transfer Pricing Manual at the UN’s Economic and Social Council. The manual is almost 700 pages and is intended to be consistent with the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines. It also includes country practices for Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and South Africa.  The UN Committee of Tax Experts also approved a handbook on extractive industries, including a section on transfer pricing.

The Committee also approved final changes to its model income tax treaty and commentaries.  The 2017 version of the model will likely be released in October at the next meeting of the Committee of Tax Experts in Geneva, Switzerland.  The new model will adopt many of OECD’s base erosion and profit shifting treaty provisions including a new article on entitlement to benefits and modifications to the permanent establishment rules.  The new model will also include a controversial new article on taxation of fees for technical services.

“This article, if adopted in a bilateral income tax treaty, would permit the country where technical services are consumed to impose a tax on those services regardless of where the services are performed or whether the person performing the services had any presence in the country of consumption of the services,” said Doran Klein.

Members from countries that export services objected strongly to the inclusion of this new Article in the model.

Robinson Writes Commentary to Adam Smith Project on Trump Priorities

Published on April 10, 2017

OECDweek_PMRUSCIB President and CEO Peter M. Robinson recently contributed commentary to the Adam Smith Project on what he believes should be priority issues for the Trump Administration. Priorities should include balancing globalization challenges with the values of economic openness and dynamism for Americans, growing the economy, maintaining American leadership in the world, and ensuring transparency and accountability in international institutions, such as the United Nations.

“Our nation’s continued prosperity and security demand that the United States remain engaged internationally on a range of key issues, including cross-border trade and investment, climate change, sustainability and support for a rules-based global economy,” writes Robinson.

The full commentary is available on the Adam Smith Project website, subscription is required.

 

B20 Issues High-Level Digitalization Statement

Published on April 10, 2017

blue tone city scape and network connection conceptThe B20 issued a high-level statement on “Digitalization for All: Towards an Inclusive Interconnected World” which was signed by fifty leading business representatives including USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson, who serves as co-chair of the Employment and Education Task Force. The high-level statement emphasizes the benefits of digitalization, from boosting consumer welfare to facilitating equality, and highlights it as a critical cross-sectoral and cross-cutting mean to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda. However, obstacles remain in terms of inadequate internet access, insufficient broadband coverage and the need to build skills to realize the full potential of the digital economy.

The statement recommends public-private collaboration to better prepare business and people for the digital economy and the need to regularly adjust curricula in schools, continuing education and requalification programs, especially for women and girls. The statement notes that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) also need government support in increasing knowledge exchange and fostering expertise on technology application.

In addition to Robinson, signatories include Tom Donohue, co-chair of the Employment and Education Task Force and president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a USCIB Trustee, Daniel Funes, chairman, International Organization of Employers and co-chair of the Employment and Education Task Force and Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce and co-chair of the Trade and Investment Task Force.

The B20 Task Force on Digitalization also released a policy paper on “Digitalization for All: Future-Oriented Policies for a Globally Connected World.” Key recommendations in the policy paper include: (1) fostering global connectivity, which includes improving cybersecurity and enabling cross-border data flows; (2) strengthening Industry 4.0 and the Industrial Internet by fostering innovation and ICT infrastructure deployment; and (3) supporting the evolution of human-centric artificial intelligence (AI) and related technologies.  USCIB actively contributed to this paper.

Mulligan to Speak on Brexit Panel on Impact to US Business

Published on April 7, 2017

LondonWith the government of UK Prime Minister Theresa May having recently delivered formal notice of the country’s intention to leave the European Union, attention is turning to the practical implications of Brexit for business. USCIB Senior Vice President for Government Affairs and Public Policy Rob Mulligan will speak on a panel at a two-day conference on “The impact of Brexit on U.S. Business” on May 30-31 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Mulligan will speak on a panel titled “Market Access and Trade: Opportunities and Challenges for U.S. Business invested in the UK and EU.”

Mulligan recently represented USCIB at meetings related to Brexit with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the British government on March 23 in London. The meeting was organized by the International Chamber of Commerce’s Trade and Investment Commission and focused on a wide range of global trade issues.  In discussing the implications of Brexit at this meeting, Mulligan also raised business concerns related to trade, noting that “companies need sufficient transition times coming out of Brexit to address any changes related to customs, value chains, and regulatory requirements.” See the full story here.

USCIB members receive a $200 discount on registration for “The impact of Brexit on U.S. Business” conference when using the discount code USCIB, and the conference organizers have agreed to extend the Super Early Bird Rate until Friday, April 14. When used with the USCIB discount code, USCIB members will receive $600 off the normal registration price. You can register for the conference here. USCIB has partnered with The Forum Companies for this conference. The full agenda can be found here.

USCIB CEO and President in New York Times

Published on April 7, 2017

Robinson_OECDforumToday’s edition of The New York Times features a letter to the editor from USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson on UN reform and the need for the United States to continue to play a leading role in the UN system. The letter is available below as well as on the New York Times’s website.

Robinson’s letter responds to U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley‘s recent comments criticizing the UN Human Rights Commission and other agencies, and comes against the background of recent calls from some in Congress and the Trump administration to defund the UN.

 

The New York Times

April 7, 2017

The Opinion Pages | Letter

‘Tough Love’ at the U.N.

To the Editor:

Re “American Envoy Calls U.N. Human Rights Council ‘Corrupt’ ” (news article, March 30):

As a longtime participant in United Nations deliberations on behalf of the private sector — which has not always enjoyed a warm welcome in the organization — I think that it is always better to be at the table than to walk away.

For us, this is important because the United Nations and its member governments are looking to business to make important contributions on climate change, human rights and many other challenges.

But I agree with Ambassador Nikki Haley that it is entirely appropriate for the United States, as the world body’s biggest funder, to apply some “tough love.”

In my view, some United Nations agencies, including the Human Rights Council, may need to be reformed so that they align with the expectations of United States taxpayers and better reflect the global consensus in favor of strong protection of human rights.

PETER M. ROBINSON, NEW YORK

The writer is president and chief executive of the United States Council for International Business.

Donnelly Emphasizes Importance of US-China BIT

Published on April 5, 2017

Donnelly_CSISWith President Trump set to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, bilateral commercial relations are high on the agenda. Against this backdrop, Shaun Donnelly, USCIB’s vice president for investment and financial services, wrote a blog post “Don’t Give Up on a Gold Standard US-China BIT!” in Investment Policy Central. Donnelly argues that abandoning a decade-long effort to negotiate a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) with China would be a “serious mistake” for U.S. interests. The agreement, if done right, would be a “win-win” for both countries, with the U.S. gaining plenty from a good, comprehensive and high-standard agreement.

“A strong BIT, is in America’s broad interest, good for American companies, workers, investors, states and communities and for American values. The U.S. wins when Chinese companies invest in the U.S., hire American workers, pay American taxes, and follow American standards and rules. And we also win when great American companies can invest successfully in China, pulling U.S. exports and brands, and business practices into fast-growing markets,” wrote Donnelly.

To achieve a comprehensive agreement, Donnelly argues that the Trump administration should consult key stakeholders in business, labor and civil society, as well as take the time to carefully assess best options and pros and cons.

Donnelly has over 30 years’ experience with the U.S. Department of State in a wide range of roles including: Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic and Business Affairs; U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka; Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Trade; Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Tunisia; and a detail as Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Europe and the Middle East.