Policy Areas Archives

USCIB Joins Business Delegation to APEC Summit

Published on October 8, 2013

There was plenty of activity at the October 5-7 APEC CEO Summit in Bali, Indonesia – not just as part of the summit agenda but also on the sidelines. APEC leaders released a final declaration restating their commitment to open trade in the region, as well as a special statement in support of the multilateral trading system.

As part of the U.S. APEC Business Coalition, USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson participated in several meetings with APEC economy leaders and ministers, including Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang, Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng, and Koya Nishikawa, Japan’s coordinator for the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks.

At a meeting with President Truong Tan Sang of Vietnam (L-R): Larry Greenwood (MetLife), Peter Sykes (Dow), Kim Taylor (Johnson & Johnson) and Peter Robinson (USCIB).
At a meeting with President Truong Tan Sang of Vietnam (L-R): Larry Greenwood (MetLife), Peter Sykes (Dow), Kim Taylor (Johnson & Johnson) and Peter Robinson (USCIB).

Also included were meetings with U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker. Many USCIB members participated in the meetings and had the chance to raise important trade issues with the officials, according to Justine Badimon, USCIB’s director of regional affairs, who accompanied Robinson to the summit. The TPP trade talks were the focus of much discussion, and leaders of the TPP nations released their own statement saying negotiations are on track toward completion.

“We were pleased to see commitments by APEC member economies in several important areas, including advancement of TPP and working within the WTO to open global markets to trade, and especially in concluding a trade facilitation agreement,” Robinson stated.

Prior to the summit, USCIB issued a statement on priority issues for APEC in 2014, when its rotating host duties passes to China.

Robinson also took part in an event on women’s economic empowerment, hosted by Wal-mart, on the margins of the summit. He provided an overview of a BIAC Survey on gender equality and the work that USCIB is doing on this issue in the OECD.

“This has been a great opportunity to meet with many of our members based here in the Asia-Pacific and to work alongside our coalition partners,” said Robinson. “USCIB is committed to our work in APEC and looks forward to carrying on our member’s priorities into the China year.”

Noted at the summit was the absence of President Obama, who cancelled his Asia visit in light of the U.S. government shutdown, and who was represented by Secretary of State John Kerry. Kerry made clear that APEC remains an important forum for the United States and commended APEC for its partnership with the business community to address the economic issues of the region.

Kerry also raised climate change and energy as being major issues to address next year and called on APEC to be a leader in this discussion. The 2013 APEC CEO Summit concluded with Chinese President Xi Jinping inviting all APEC economies to come to Beijing for the 2014 CEO Summit.

 

Staff contact: Justine Badimon

As General Assembly Opens, USCIB Flags Business Priorities in UN “DoorKnock” Consultations

Published on October 4, 2013
Daniella Ballou-Aares (State Department) and Clifford Henry (Procter & Gamble) at the UN door-knock consultations
Daniella Ballou-Aares (State Department) and Clifford Henry (Procter & Gamble) at the UN door-knock consultations

On September 26, on the margins of the UN General Assembly, USCIB members met with UN and member state representatives to discuss U.S. business priorities in the UN’s new development agenda and UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Hosted by Pfizer, the day of “UN door-knock” policy consultations included a Green Economies Dialogue luncheon roundtable on green growth aspects of the SDGs. (Click here to view videos from the event.)

“USCIB members are arguing for a strong focus on peace, security, good governance and economic growth in the SDGs,” said Clifford Henry (Procter & Gamble), Chair of USCIB’s Corporate Responsibility Committee, who led the business delegation. “These and other fundamental priorities underpin enabling conditions for job creation, environmental stewardship and economic development.”

USCIB members underscored the need for open trade and investment regimes, as well as strong intellectual property protection, as prerequisites for the deployment of business, financial, and technical expertise to advance development and address international challenges of energy access, food security and poverty eradication.  Other companies taking part included American Chemistry Council, Diageo, ExxonMobil, General Electric and Pfizer.

In the morning, USCIB members met with Ambassador Takehiro Kagawa, of the Japanese Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and Daniella Ballou-Aares, Special Advisor on development to the U.S. Secretary of State. In the afternoon, Karina Gerlach, a member of the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Expert Group for the Post-2015 Development Agenda, and Shamshad Akhtar, the UN’s Assistant Secretary General for economic development, briefed the group on work-streams that make up the UN-wide effort – including the Experts Group on Finance for Sustainable Development – and suggested ways to involve business in these deliberations.

”Events like this one are an opportunity to advance a common agenda of prosperity and betterment of the human condition,” stated USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson in opening theGreen Economies Dialogue roundtable: Speakers from MIT, the U.S. State Department, the UN Development Program, the University of California at San Diego and the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided their perspectives on ways to prioritize and track economic aspects of progress under the SDGs, and the opportunity to engage the business community in developed and developing countries in partnerships as part of the UN post-2015 development deliberations.

The Green Economies Dialogue is a platform – created by USCIB and the United States Council Foundation in the lead-up to last year’s Rio+20 earth summit – for business to engage with national governments, thought leaders, representatives of international institutions and academics on green growth and green economy issues.

The second phase of the Green Economies Dialogue will concentrate on interaction with governments and the UN around the Post-2015 Development Agenda, especially concerning greener economic development and the formulation and pursuit of the SDGs. These goals are expected to drive UN activities, direct national budgets and influence stakeholder expectations in coming years, across a wide range of strategic issues, such as corporate responsibility, environmental regulation, and energy.

To aid in the development of business views and advocacy, USCIB has formed an SDG Working Group co-chaired by Brian Lowry (Monsanto) and Tam Nguyen (Bechtel).

 

More on USCIB’s Environment Committee

More on USCIB’s Corporate Responsibility Committee

Business Urges APEC to Take Concrete Steps to Expedite Trade

Published on October 2, 2013

4607_image002New York, N.Y., October 2, 2013 – As leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies get set to meet in Bali, Indonesia, a key pro-trade business group urged a number of concrete steps to free up trade and facilitate business in this fast-growing region.

The United States Council for International Business (USCIB) issued a comprehensive paper with priority issues and recommendations for APEC in 2014, when the group’s rotating host duties pass to China.

“APEC’s importance for U.S. and global business is growing,” said USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson, who will be part of the business delegation to the Bali summit, which takes place October 5 to 7. “We are recommending a number of steps leaders can take to help ensure the region remains a center for growth and innovation.”

USCIB said several current or prospective APEC projects offer special promise to smooth trade relations among the economies. These include:

  • the APEC Chemical Dialogue, which USCIB called a useful and important forum to address issues relating to chemicals management
  • discussion of long-term climate change adaptation planning, where USCIB is seeking to inject private-sector know-how
  • launch of the Virtual Customs Business Dialogue, which will look at reducing technical and administrative barriers to trade, during China’s host year

The business group is also urging APEC’s 21 member economies to undertake new work to address localization barriers to trade, and to work toward the elimination of barriers to trade in digital services and products. The USCIB paper, which is issued annually, covers more than 20 separate issue areas. USCIB said its member companies would be closely engaged throughout China’s host year.

Robinson said the business community would push for progress on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) when trade ministers from the 12 TPP parties meet on the sidelines of the Bali summit. “We want a strong, comprehensive TPP agreement, with no carve-outs of issues or sectors, and which includes key provisions on forced localization and dispute settlement,” he stated.

Looking at the global trading system, Robinson said business would also encourage APEC members to work together in the World Trade Organization (WTO) to open global markets to trade, especially through a potential trade facilitation agreement that will be on the table at the WTO’s own Bali ministerial in December.

 

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. With a unique global network encompassing leading international business organizations, USCIB provides business views to policy makers and regulatory authorities worldwide, and works to facilitate international trade and investment. More at www.uscib.org.

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

The Private Sectors Contributions to Improved Nutrition

Published on September 30, 2013

4608_image001Last week, USCIB submitted comments to the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition on the contribution of the private sector and civil society to improve nutrition. This online consultation will feed into the Second International Conference on Nutrition Preparatory Technical Meeting (November 13-15 in Rome).

In the submission, USCIB stressed that advancing health and nutrition requires a multi-stakeholder approach that reflects the complexities of the issues. There is no quick or simple solution to addressing challenges such as obesity, under-nutrition and disease, we said.  While we believe that the private sector has a role in producing healthy and nutritious food, it is equally important to address issues that impact the community’s ability to thrive such as poverty, hunger, gender inequality, water access and sustainable agriculture.

It is within this context that USCIB shared some examples of programs and approaches that reflect this complex reality. The submission highlights several successful private sector initiatives already in place, including programs by Coca-Cola, CropLife, General Mills, McDonalds, Monsanto, Nestle, and PepsiCo.

“USCIB believes that private-sector know-how in the areas of innovation, science and technology, as well as good production and management practices, can be increasingly harnessed through effective partnerships with research institutions, farmers, policy-makers, and civil society,” according to Helen Medina, USCIB’s senior director for product policy and innovation

“Furthermore, the private sector plays a critical role in further strengthening markets, economic growth and livelihoods. While private sector involvement is key, there is also a need for government collaboration, particularly in helping ensure greater policy coherence, such as reducing barriers to trade.”

The Rome meeting will be a high-level ministerial conference which will seek to propose a flexible policy framework to adequately address the major nutrition challenges of the next decades. It will also seek to identify priorities for international cooperation on nutrition in the near and medium-term.

 

Staff contact: Helen Medina

 

More on USCIB’s Product Policy Working Group

At ILO Employers Urge Steps to Reduce Informal Economy

Published on September 24, 2013
USCIB’s Adam Greene (left) at the ILO meeting
USCIB’s Adam Greene (left) at the ILO meeting

At an International Labor Organization meeting earlier this month in Geneva, business representatives from around the world joined government and trade union officials in contributing perspectives on ways to reduce participation in the untaxed, unregulated “informal” economy.

Under the banner of the International Organization of Employers (IOE), part of USCIB’s global network, the business delegation stressed that a key factor contributing to the prevalence of informality is the cost of doing business in a country. Adam Greene, USCIB’s vice president for labor and corporate responsibility, took part and helped prepare the employers’ closing statement.

“Entrepreneurs and enterprises in the informal economy struggle to do business in a situation of legal uncertainty and insecurity, and are faced with numerous economic constraints,” stated Michael Chiam of the Malaysian Employers’ Federation. “They need the tools to buy and sell their products legally, to own property and commercial use of property, to enter into legal contracts, to establish a business identity, to raise capital, to sell shares, to legally export. In essence, to have the official recognition of their property and business ownership.”

According to Greene, the discussion is part of an effort expected to lead to an ILO recommendation on informality in 2015 that will serve as one of the key UN instruments on the issue. “It will, we hope, help push the UN’s effort to develop new Sustainable Development Goals in the right direction,” he said. “Informality can reflect a fundamental lack of effective governance, and good national governance will be critical to assure the success of the SDGs.”

Greene said that, from the employers’ perspective, the ILO has a key role to play in addressing the issue of informality, because promoting employment and sustainable enterprises, as well as fundamental principles and rights at work, are at the very heart of the ILO’s mission.

At the Geneva session, business representatives criticized the narrow focus of an ILO questionnaire on labor markets, which they said had led to unhelpful proposals for formalizing workers and upgrading workers’ rights, but not addressing issues surrounding business formation and entrepreneurship. A focus solely on labor rights, they argued, would actually serve as a disincentive to formalization. They said a wider range of measures should be taken into consideration, including promoting effective national institutions and administration, implementing judicial reform, and easing business registration and licensing.

Staff contact: Adam Greene

More on USCIB’s Labor and Employment Policy Committee

UN and Business Must Make Common Cause in Post-2015 Agenda UN Official Declares

Published on September 19, 2013
UN Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson
UN Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson

The business community and the United Nations must rediscover their sense of shared purpose and “reconnect in building a world where international peace and prosperity reinforce each other,” according to UN Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson.

Eliasson spoke at last night’s USCIB’s International Leadership Award Dinner. His remarks came as USCIB and its allied business groups seek to provide business input into the development of the UN’s post-2015 development agenda, which aims to expand upon the Millennium Development Goals agreed in 2000.

The gala dinner, held at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, honored Fred Smith, chairman and CEO of FedEx Corp., who received USCIB’s top award before an audience of several hundred USCIB members, diplomats and business representatives from around the world.

“There is more than just an overlap between United Nations development goals and private sector interests,” Eliasson stated. “We share common ground. If we can get, during the next two years, an acceleration of reaching these goals, then we will create the political momentum to move ahead and address sustainability, poverty and the rule of law.”

USCIB Chairman Terry McGraw (president, chairman and CEO of McGraw Hill Financial) urged business and the UN to work together to map out an ambitious – and achievable – post-2015 development agenda. “This represents a historic opportunity to forge a global consensus in support of public-private activities to lead growth and create a more robust, inclusive world economy,” he said.

McGraw said business will seek to promote several fundamental objectives in the context of the post-2015 agenda. These include setting goals that are achievable in every country, putting a focus on improving national governance, implementing sound macro-economic and fiscal policies, establishing effective national institutions, and providing adequate incentives for business to contribute.

L-R: The UN’s Eliasson, FedEx CEO Fred Smith, USCIB Chairman Terry McGraw, USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson
L-R: The UN’s Eliasson, FedEx CEO Fred Smith, USCIB Chairman Terry McGraw, USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson

Well deserved accolades for FedEx’s Smith

FedEx’s Smith accepted USCIB’s International Leadership Award on behalf of his company’s employees around the world. “Let me commend USCIB for the important work you are doing,” he said. “I think all of us in this room believe in the power of access, of connecting people, of ideas. Improving people’s lives through global growth has been an important and valuable mission. We are shoulder-to-shoulder with you in this important work.”

Smith is the 32nd individual to receive the USCIB award, which was presented most recently to Andrew Liveris of Dow Chemical. The award recognizes efforts to expand world trade and investment, and to improve the competitive environment for American business globally.

Smith founded FedEx Corp. in 1973, and it has grown into a $44-billion global transportation, business services and logistics company. McGraw praised him for his vision and leadership. “Fred Smith has been an active proponent of regulatory reform, free trade and open skies agreements for aviation around the world,” said McGraw. “Most recently, he has advocated for vehicle energy-efficiency standards and a national energy policy. FedEx is consistently ranked among the world’s most admired and trusted employers and inspires its employees to remain absolutely, positively focused on safety, the highest ethical and professional standards and the needs of their customers and communities.”

USCIB’s global network turns out

Among those attending this year’s event were members of the executive board of the International Chamber of Commerce, the world business organization for which USCIB serves as the American national committee, as well as the heads of ICC chapters from around the world. The secretaries general of each of USCIB’s affiliated global business groups – ICC, the International Organization of Employers, and the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD – also attended the gala.

The dinner marked a starting point for a series of events organized by USCIB, ICC and other business-related groups to focus industry attention on the development of the UN’s post-2015 development agenda. Among the highlights will be USCIB-organized “door-knock” consultations on October 26 for USCIB members with key government delegations and the UN secretariat.

That same day, USCIB will convene a Green Economies Dialogue luncheon roundtable on economic and green growth considerations of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Speakers at the roundtable will include representatives from academia, important governments and the UN to consider policy options that work within the global marketplace.

Staff contact: Jonathan Huneke

More on USCIB’s International Leadership Award Dinner

Fedex website

New Study Global Value Chains Paired With Open Markets Offer Path to Sustainable Growth

Published on September 16, 2013
A new study on global value chains from the OECD, WTO and UNCTAD echoes conclusions of a report commissioned by USCIB and the Business Roundtable.
A new study on global value chains from the OECD, WTO and UNCTAD echoes conclusions of a report commissioned by USCIB and the Business Roundtable.

A report launched by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) finds that global value chains (GVCs) have become “a dominant feature of the world economy,” with between 30 and 60 percent of G20 countries’ exports comprised of imported inputs or used as inputs by others, and offer new prospects for sustainable growth, development and jobs.

The report, entitled Implications of Global Value Chains for Trade, Investment, Development and Jobs, concludes that both the cost of trade and investment protectionism and the benefits of multilateral opening are much higher than previously thought, and highlights the urgent necessity of comprehensive policy reforms that enhance trade and investment openness.

These conclusions, which were presented to the G20 Summit in St. Petersburg in response to the G20 leaders’ request at the 2012 Summit to analyze the functioning of GVCs and their relationship with international trade and development, parallel those of a study by Dartmouth’s Matthew Slaughter,  American Companies and Global Supply Networks, published earlier this year by USCIB and the Business Roundtable, which found that the operations of globally engaged U.S. companies benefit American economic growth and job creation.

In our highly interconnected world, participation in GVCs can produce considerable gains: developing economies with the fastest growing GVC participation have per-capita GDP growth rates two percent above the average, according to the report. Likewise, countries that attract more foreign direct investment tend to have higher GVC participation levels and to generate more value added from trade. Thus, the report states that practical trade facilitation reforms are crucial in reducing trade costs and increasing GVC participation, and that policies conducive to open markets will help ensure that development and growth potential is realized and widely inclusive. Sustainable GVC growth also relies on multilateral cooperation so that policies are coordinated between exporters and importers, and host countries and home countries.

“Trade facilitation is about easing access to the global marketplace and doing away with the complicated border crossing procedures and excess red tape that raise costs, which ultimately fall on businesses, consumers and our economies,” said OECD Secretary General Angel Gurría. “Reducing global trade costs by just one percent would increase worldwide income by more than $40 billion, 65 percent of which would accrue to developing countries.”

One of the key challenges remaining is to understand and address the obstacles to such access that developing economies experience – access that would help build productive capacity where local firms can capture a significant share of the value added. Significant investment, though, would be required to aid technology dissemination, skill building, education and infrastructure upgrading.

Staff contacts: Rob Mulligan and Shaun Donnelly

More on USCIB’s Trade and Investment Committee

USCIB Urging Congressional Support for Foreign Investment Bill

Published on September 16, 2013

4596_image001The U.S. Congress is considering legislation to bolster America’s competitiveness in attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from abroad, which can strengthen U.S. competitiveness and create good jobs.  USCIB is among the business voices leading the call for Congress to adopt the “Global Investment in American Jobs Act” (S. 1023/HR 2052). In a rare display of bipartisanship, the House of Representatives passed the bill by a vote of 370-32 on September 9. USCIB and our business coalition partners are now urging the U.S. Senate to move quickly to adopt the Bill (click here to view the coalition letter to the U.S. Senate).

The legislation would put the U.S. government clearly on record as welcoming international investment. The legislation would also task the secretary of commerce to lead a government-wide effort to focus on America’s investment competitiveness, and to develop and implement a plan to make the U.S. the unquestioned “gold standard” option for the best international companies to locate new facilities.

“Inward FDI is good for America,” said Shaun Donnelly, USCIB’s vice president for investment and financial services. “The competition among nations around the world to attract high quality investment projects increases daily, and the U.S. needs to up its game as a destination for FDI. This piece of legislation is a good place to start.”  USCIB commends the bill’s sponsors in the House (Lee Terry, R-NE; Jan Schakowsky, D-IL; Peter Roskam, R-IL; and John Barrow, D-GA) and the Senate (Bob Corker, R-TN; Amy Klobuchar, D- MN; Roy Blunt, R- MO; and Kay Hagan, D- NC) for their leadership in introducing this legislation.

USCIB has long been a leading business voice in Washington and internationally on the importance of both inward and outbound FDI to U.S. economic competitiveness, exports, economic growth and jobs. According to Donnelly, inward FDI brings not only needed capital but also technology, innovation and access to foreign markets. USCIB co-chairs the investment policy committees of the broad U.S. business coalitions working with the Obama administration on the two major ongoing trade negotiations, the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.

Staff contact: Shaun Donnelly

More on USCIB’s Trade and Investment Committee

Business Pushes for Trade Promotion Authority

Published on September 11, 2013

4597_image001The business community is urging Congress to act swiftly to pass legislation giving the president fast-track ability to negotiate free trade agreements. Such legislation would require Congress to make up-or-down votes on ratification of trade pacts without amendment.

In a letter to the leadership of the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees seeking passage of Trade Promotion Authority, USCIB and the other members of the Trade Benefits America coalition urged passage of legislation before the end of the year, saying that, without action, high-level trade talks would be jeopardized.

“Currently, the United States is pursuing an exceptionally ambitious and diverse range of trade negotiations, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, and the Trade in Services Agreement,” coalition members wrote. “These negotiations involve important 21st century trade issues – such as foreign restrictions on cross-border data flows, unfair competition from state-owned enterprises, intellectual property rights, forced localization barriers to trade and investment, and international regulatory cooperation – that have evolved or emerged since 2002. By updating and passing TPA, Congress can help shape the negotiating goals pursued by U.S. negotiators while also strengthening the hand of those negotiators in achieving solid outcomes favorable to the United States.”

The letter said passage of TPA would strengthen the partnership between Congress and the executive branch – which the coalition said “has long proven critical to negotiating U.S. trade agreements and getting them implemented by Congress” – thereby helping to ensure a meaningful role for legislators at all stages of trade negotiations.

Staff contact: Rob Mulligan

More on USCIB’s Trade and Investment Committee

US OKs Chinese Acquisition of Smithfield Affirming Open Investment Policy

Published on September 9, 2013

Smithfield Foods (of Smithfield, Virginia) announced on September 6 that the U.S. government’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) has approved Smithfield’s acquisition by Shuanghui Holdings, a large Chinese/Hong Kong food company.  CFIUS, a nine-agency committee chaired by the Treasury Department, routinely reviews major acquisitions of U.S. firms by foreign firms for national security concerns.

USCIB welcomed the move. “CFIUS has never been a broad national screening mechanism for foreign direct investment into the U.S.,” noted Shaun Donnelly, USCIB’s vice president for investment and financial services.  “Nor in our view should CFIUS’s mandate be expanded beyond its present scope. We commend the Obama administration, and the CFIUS agencies in particular, for conducting the Smithfield/Shuanghui review rigorously and in compliance with long-established procedures and criteria laid out in relevant U.S. legislation and regulation.”

After the acquisition was first announced, there were calls from some in Congress and the media to expand the CFIUS mandate beyond clear national security criteria. “Had we succumbed to these siren calls to turn CFIUS into some sort of protectionist tool to deflect foreign acquisitions, especially from China or other ‘controversial’ partners, it could have jeopardized America’s traditional welcome mat for FDI,” Donnelly said. “The U.S. needs to be, and to be seen to be, a strong and consistent voice for open and transparent investment policies and regulations at home and abroad. Both inward and outward FDI are good for the U.S. economy, competitiveness and jobs. “

Staff contact: Shaun Donnelly

More on USCIB’s Trade and Investment Committee