US Unlikely to Sign New Global Tax Treaty

Businessman hand touching tax word on virtual screen the concept of online taxation.

USCIB’s vice president for taxation policy, Carol Doran Klein, was quoted extensively in a November 30 Bloomberg BNA article on the OECD’s multilateral tax treaty, known as the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty-Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting. According to Doran Klein, while many countries are likely to sign on to parts of the treaty, it is unlikely the U.S. will sign on mainly because the multilateral instrument (MLI) “does not have a lot to offer the U.S. Many of the provisions are variations on treaty policies that the U.S. has been implementing for decades.”

Regarding effect on business, Doran Klein said it will be a challenge for companies and their advisers to analyze the changes made by the MLI to individual bilateral treaties. “This is actually a huge issue, because it may be difficult to work through exactly what the new treaty language is.” Doran Klein said she is worried that the tax treaty area will wind up like the trade area. The trade agreements are very difficult to read and understand, because they refer back to other agreements for basic principles. “I believe that the reason they do that is they do not want to open up the fundamentals of the old agreements to complete renegotiation, but it is therefore extremely difficult to understand the obligations.”

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Private Sector Unites for Action Under Paris Climate Agreement

USCIB joined representatives from over forty leading national and international business groups to endorse the Marrakesh Declaration, agreed at the High Level Business Summit on November 16 during the 22nd UN Convention on Climate Change (COP22) meetings in Marrakesh.  This meeting, convened by Morocco’s preeminent business group, the Confederation General des Enterprises de Maroc (CGEM) and the leading French business organization, MEDEF, agreed a consensus statement on business priorities and commitment to further develop the Paris Agreement and to create enabling frameworks to support business investment, innovation and implementation of the UN climate agreement.

The main objective of COP22 was to accelerate technical work and guidelines for reporting under the Paris Agreement in several areas, including tracking government action and linking carbon markets, in order to support implementation and meet deadlines resulting from the rapid ratification and entry into force of the Paris Agreement.  While few substantive issues were resolved, the two weeks of negotiations did deliver decisions to outline a timetable for future work and request submissions from governments on a wide range of policy and market topics. Over 20,000 government, UN, NGO, business and press representatives attended COP22.  Members of USCIB on hand at the conference included Nick Campbell, Arkema, Justin Perrettson, Novozymes, Russel Mills, Dow Chemical Company, Brian Lowry, Monsanto, Arthur Lee, Chevron and Jorge Dieguez, Dupont.

While the outcome of the U.S. presidential election did raise questions regarding the U.S. role in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, according to Norine Kennedy, USCIB’s vice president for energy and environment, “We regard U.S. government involvement in the UN climate process as critical to represent and defend U.S. economic interests overseas, and promote U.S. innovation as part of the solution to energy security and lower carbon economic activity.”

USCIB also presented on business perspectives on implementing the Paris Agreement and the role of business in developing and improving national pledges, known as Nationally determined contributions (NDCs), that are the foundation of the Paris Agreement.  At an official COP22 side-event on November 18, organized by the Major Economies Business Forum (BizMEF), of which USCIB is a founding member, Kennedy participated on a panel with other experts and representatives from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Turkish business association, TUSIAD, the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, Japan’s business group Keidanren, and the Global CCS Institute.

USCIB actively works with BizMEF to develop global business recommendations on the top-line issues that matter to U.S. business. Just one week prior to the official COP22 side-event, USCIB, through BizMEF, partnered with CGEM to convene the 4th BizMEF Business Dialogue. This Dialogue brought together over seventy participants from business, governments, and UN agencies and was a crucial platform for Kennedy to present USCIB’s report on the role of business in developing national pledges under the Paris Agreement, with recommendations for involving the private sector in national and international assessments of climate action.

The next two years will bring multiple fast-moving – by UN standards – decision-making deliberations across a number of key issues, and USCIB will continue to track those that most directly impact our members. USCIB will focus on ways to carve out a clear role for business input and representation in the process. Kennedy emphasized, “We consider it fundamental, at both the national and international levels, for policy makers to consult with business on the economic and environmental aspects of climate policies. There is no doubt that the Paris Agreement has implications for every business sector, across all types of commercial activity, in the near and the long terms. So preserving and improving the UN system’s accountability and transparency, and creating new opportunities for the private sector to contribute, this is USCIB’s bottom line.”

USCIB will circulate a comprehensive COP22 report out and seek USCIB members’ recommendations on 2017 USCIB climate advocacy in early December.  Please contact Norine Kennedy to get involved in USCIB’s climate and environment committees.

CLICK to download new BizMEF statements on the role of business in the UN climate talks, implementing the Paris Agreement, national reporting and verification and greenhouse gas markets.

ICC Meeting With Head of UNEP Discusses Private Sector Approaches to Resource Efficiency

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) held a “Sustainable Resource Management: Business Opportunities and Economic Potential” meeting in Paris last week with 120 policymakers, industry leaders, and scientists to discuss the economic potential of resource efficiency and its role in putting the world on a more sustainable development track in line with the Sustainable Development Goals, and recommendations of last year’s UN Environmental Assembly (UNEA).

This was the first major international business meeting with UNEP’s new leader, Erik Solheim, formerly head of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee. The Sustainable Resource Management meeting was organized as part of UNEP’s on-going dialogue with business on environmental sustainability. In his opening remarks at the event, Solheim emphasized that “practical solutions will happen in business.”

USCIB was represented at the meeting by Mike Michener, CropLife International, who serves as one of two elected business and industry representatives on UNEP’s Major Groups Facilitating Committee (MGFC), along with Norine Kennedy, USCIB’s vice president for energy and environment.

Business Supports Expansion of APEC Privacy Rules

Global Communications. 3D rendering.

Eight major business groups — including USCIB, Japan’s Keidanren and ICC Mexico — released a joint statement calling on all Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies to expand participation in the APEC Cross-Border Privacy Rules (CBPR) system. An important priority for USCIB, the CBPR is a high-standard and enforceable privacy code of conduct that facilitates cross-border trade and ensures strong privacy protection of personal information. The statement commended the work done by policy makers in promoting the CBPR system, and urged the 21 APEC economies to commit to the system during 2017.

CBPRs are based on the internationally respected APEC Privacy Framework and endorsed by APEC Leaders since 2011. They are an interoperable, enforceable, and high-standard privacy code of conduct that facilitates cross-border trade of goods and services and ensures that strong privacy protection will follow personal information across the Asia-Pacific region. By creating a certification system that bridges the privacy regimes of each participating economy in a cost-effective and scalable way, the CBPRs allow participating companies to focus their time and resources on innovating, serving customers, and pursuing their business objectives.

USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson attended the annual APEC CEO summit and various side events alongside USCIB Vice President Helen Medina. Robinson featured the joint statement in his meetings with US government officials, as well as other APEC government representatives on the sidelines of the recent APEC Leaders meeting in Lima, Peru. “We applaud the support that APEC Leaders and Ministers have demonstrated towards expanding participation in the CBPRs. We believe this reaffirms both APEC’s recognition of the importance of data flows to trade and investment in the region and its commitment to building bridges between national privacy regulatory regimes. We see great potential for the CBPRs to serve as a platform for a truly global system of interoperable and robust privacy protection,” noted Robinson. USCIB members certified under the CBPR include Apple Inc., Cisco Systems, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, HP Inc., IBM, and Merck and Co., Inc.

The CBPRs signal to governments in the Asia-Pacific and in other parts of the world that mutual cooperation between like-minded economies can serve as a rational, effective international approach to high-standard privacy and data protection, without requiring data to be stored, managed, or otherwise processed locally or prohibiting data transfers to other markets.

The next meeting of APEC’s Data Privacy Subgroup, which developed the CBPR framework and continues to oversee its implementation, will be held in 2017 in Vietnam. USCIB will work with APEC member economies to support these commitments and raise awareness with officials and stakeholders on the benefits of CBPRs, increasing participation and helping APEC economies set the standard for how to do privacy right globally.

Will COP22 Mark the Beginning or the End of the Paris Climate Agreement?

Norine Kennedy at COP22
USCIB Vice President Norine Kennedy at COP22 in Marrakesh

The first part of the UN climate talks that wrapped up last week in Marrakesh, Morocco coincided with the U.S. presidential election. According to Norine Kennedy, USCIB’s vice president for energy and environment, who was in Marrakesh for the duration, Donald Trump’s election as the next U.S. president delivered a jolt to negotiators, who suddenly were faced with the prospect of a possible U.S. pullout from the historic Paris Climate Agreement agreed last December. But negotiators rallied around the agreement, which entered into force earlier this month, presenting a challenge to the new U.S. administration come January 20.

As COP22 – the 22nd Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change – was coming to a close, Kennedy presented on business perspectives on implementing the Paris Agreement and the role of business in nationally determined contributions (NDCs) at an official COP22 side-event on November 18. The side-event was organized by the Major Economies Business Forum (BizMEF), of which USCIB is a member. Kennedy participated on a panel with other experts and representatives from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Turkish business association Tüsiad, the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, Japan’s business group Keidanren, and the Global CCS Institute.

USCIB actively works with the Major Economies Business Forum (BizMEF), developing global business recommendations on the top-line issues that matter to U.S. business. Just one week prior to the official COP22 side-event, USCIB, through BizMEF, partnered with Morocco’s preeminent business group, General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM) to hold a Business Dialogue with government and UNFCCC secretariat representatives. This Dialogue brought together over seventy participants from business, governments, and UN agencies and was a crucial platform for Kennedy to present USCIB’s report on NDC’s.

Kennedy has represented USCIB and its members in UN climate deliberations since 1993. The common thread for USCIB, she said, has always been the importance of U.S. business as solution providers and the need to have U.S. economic interests represented and furthered in international decision-making on climate change. “The climate challenge is itself a long-term phenomenon that impacts regulations and energy access in all countries where U.S. companies operate, and which will also offer new market and innovation opportunities for U.S. business,” she said. USCIB intends to provide continuity and thought leadership on climate policy in the broader context of sustainability, to the administration of President-elect Trump and to future administrations. “We intend to help U.S. government decision makers and the UN system to develop policy frameworks that best address climate change while also facilitating cross-border trade, investment and innovation by U.S. companies,” noted Kennedy.

The Paris Agreement is not a finished product – the broad outlines and goals are indeed established, but key details on a number of critical issues to business, such as the role of various national and regional carbon markets, the tracking and updating of national pledges, and how technology innovation and potential liability for climate-related damages might be tackled are still works in progress. There is still an essential role for U.S. business to stay in touch with our government delegation to offer views and suggestions on thorny issues, and provide examples and other relevant information on business initiatives.

The next two years will bring multiple fast-moving – by UN standards – decision-making deliberations across a number of key issues, and USCIB will continue to track those that most directly impact our members. USCIB will focus on ways to carve out a clear role for business input and representation in the process. Kennedy emphasized: “We consider it fundamental, at both the national and international levels, for policy makers to consult with business on the economic and environmental aspects of climate policies. There is no doubt that the Paris Agreement will affect every business sector, across all types of commercial activity, in both the near and the long terms. So preserving and improving the UN system’s accountability and transparency, and creating new opportunities for the private sector to contribute, this is USCIB’s bottom line.”

CLICK to download new BizMEF statements on the role of business in the UN climate talks, implementing the Paris Agreement, national reporting and verification and greenhouse gas markets.

APEC CEO Summit Highlights Need for Continued US Leadership

USCIB's Peter Robinson and Helen Medina in Lima
USCIB’s Peter Robinson and Helen Medina in Lima

The annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO summit, which wrapped up over the weekend in Lima, Peru, coincided with concerns about an uncertain U.S. role in Asia and the Pacific at an especially pivotal time. But according to USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson, who attended the summit and various side events alongside USCIB Vice President Helen Medina, there were also signs of progress and hope for continued U.S. leadership in the region.

“I believe that, despite the political rhetoric back home, our trading partners still want and expect the United States to play a leading role in APEC and in the region as a whole, and so do we,” said Robinson. “Now is the time to work even more closely together to promote trade and regional solutions that meet the needs of all parties.”

Under the leadership of the National Center for APEC, USCIB and other business groups joined a diverse array of American CEOs and other executives (including numerous USCIB members) in Lima. Throughout 2016, USCIB has addressed a number of key priorities through APEC, including chemicals policy, advertising self-regulation, data privacy, customs, digital trade, and women in the economy. Our members and staff have engaged in several APEC working groups, including the Chemical Dialogue, APEC Business-Customs Dialogue, Customs Procedures Virtual Working Group, Alliance for Supply Chain Connectivity, the Electronic Commerce Steering Group and Data Privacy Subgroup.

Robinson gave introductory remarks at a roundtable hosted by the U.S.-APEC Business Coalition and USCIB member Deloitte, “Driving APEC Growth Through Competitive Services and High-Quality Regulations.” The focus of Peru’s 2016 host year was on quality growth and human development. Within this context, particular attention has been devoted to the services sector, which represents a large and expanding portion of the overall economic growth and development. The event, moderated by Deloitte Global Chairman David Cruikshank, focused on APEC’s current work in the areas of services and good regulatory practices, including the APEC Services Cooperation Framework and APEC Services Competitiveness Roadmap, as well as further opportunities to drive the service sector in 2017.

Other speakers included John Andersen, deputy assistant secretary of Commerce for the Western Hemisphere; John Drummond, head of the OECD’s Trade in Services Division; and Ho Meng Kit, CEO of the Singapore Business Federation; and Vietnam ABAC Chair for 2017 Hoang Van Dung. Key themes addressed included the slowing pace of liberalization in services in the APEC area, its impact on small and medium-sized businesses, and the need to reinvigorate trade.

While in Lima, Robinson and Medina participated in business meetings with the prime minister and finance minister of Peru, the president of Vietnam and Canada’s international trade minister. They also joined APEC Business Coalition members at meeting with key U.S. Congressional staff attending the summit, as well as Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Robert Holleyman, where the post-election focus was on crafting better trade deals that can address concerns voiced by everyday Americans.

Robinson and Medina attended a dinner hosted by Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Abbott and Merck KGaA, on “Driving Sustainable Health Systems to Achieve Quality Growth and Human Development.” The dinner, which featured remarks by Peruvian Health Minister Patricia García Funegra and Matt Matthews, the U.S. senior official for APEC, highlighted the region’s shared achievements to advance the APEC health agenda, which carries significant trade and investment, innovation and capacity-building components.

Statement on cross-border privacy rules

During the final day of the APEC CEO summit, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg urged world leaders to invest in connecting citizens to the Internet. In a related move, eight major business groups — including USCIB, Japan’s Keidanren and ICC Mexico — released a joint statement calling on all APEC economies to expand participation in the APEC Cross-Border Privacy Rules (CBPR) system. An important priority for USCIB, the CBPR is a high-standard and enforceable privacy code of conduct that facilitates cross-border trade and ensures strong privacy protection of personal information. The statement commended the work done by policy makers in promoting the CBPR system, and urged the 21 APEC economies to commit to the system during 2017.

Chinese President Xi Jinping addresses the CEO Summit.
Chinese President Xi Jinping addresses the CEO Summit.

Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a keynote address with a strong message in favor of open and free trade, saying that the Asia-Pacific region must lead the way in the face of slowing global growth and rising protectionism.

“President Xi clearly demonstrated that China is ready to take a leading role in APEC integration at a time when the U.S. appears to be reevaluating how it intends to engage with its economic and trading partners,” observed USCIB’s Medina.

But Robinson said that USCIB, NCAPEC and members of the U.S. APEC Business Coalition remain well-positioned to champion U.S. business interests in APEC. “The time and energy we have invested in APEC has resulted in some important accomplishments,” he said. “Whatever happens regarding a specific trade deal, the fact is that we in the United States still need APEC, and APEC needs us. I continue to have high hopes for APEC as we approach 2017.”

The Uncertain U.S. Role in Global Tax Debate

BEPS TaxationUSCIB’s vice president for tax, Carol Doran Klein, has recently been quoted in Bloomberg Government amid uncertainty around the U.S. role in global tax rewrite under President-elect Trump’s administration. Among the various issues, the project on tax base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) will likely not unravel. Doran Klein trusts that the BEPS project will be included in the new administration’s ongoing work, hoping that the U.S. will “continue to participate actively because having the U.S. Treasury at the table makes the rules more likely to reflect the concerns of the U.S. as a government and the U.S. business community.” She goes on to say that there are “many countries that are getting significant benefits from the BEPS project, including things that have already been implemented, such as the reporting requirements.”

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Bechtel Wins Transparency-International USA’s Corporate Leadership Award

Jack FutcherA leading USCIB member company has received the coveted Corporate Leadership Award from the U.S. Chapter of Transparency International, the leading global anti-corruption non-government organization. Bechtel President/COO Jack Futcher accepted the award on behalf of Bechtel’s 55,000 employees worldwide at TI-USA’s annual Integrity Awards Dinner in Washington, D.C. on November 14.

Bechtel was cited for its commitment to ethical business conduct, high standards on transparency and corporate citizenship. The company’s path-breaking “Vision, Values, and Covenants” statement, which serves as the company’s guiding principles, speaks to ethics directly and unequivocally: “We are uncompromising in our integrity, honesty, and fairness.” Bechtel’s Code of Conduct applies to all who represent the company or act on its behalf, including employees, agents, consultants, contract labor and members of its Board of Directors.

Over the past several years, General Electric, Coca-Cola, and PepsiCo – all USCIB member companies – have also received TI-USA’s Corporate Leadership Award.

Shaun Donnelly, USCIB’s vice president for investment and financial services and a member of TI-USA’s policy advisory board, represented USCIB at the Integrity Dinner.

Business Hits Chinese Cybersecurity Rules as Protectionist

China - Flag on Button of Black Keyboard.Earlier this month, China adopted broad cybersecurity regulations giving law enforcement enhanced authority to access private data and requiring data to be stored servers located in China. In a letter to Chinese authorities, USCIB and some 40 other industry groups from around the world protested the measure, saying it would wall off China’s internet and unfairly hamper access to the Chinese market.

The letter said Chinese regulators used security as a pretext for enacting protectionist trade policies to benefit Chinese industry, and urged China to to respect its World Trade Organization commitments. “We are concerned that these commitments are undermined by public statements and other forms of high-level guidance that call for indigenous and controllable substitution plans for information technology products and services,” the industry letter stated.

USCIB is organizing a high-level government and business dialogue on US-China cybersecurity, to be held December 16 in Washington, D.C. White House and other government officials will be invited to brief members on the ongoing U.S.-China cyber dialogue and discuss specific member priorities. Please contact Eva Hampl for additional information.

Workshop Highlights Need for Business Input to Implement UN Climate Agreement

marrakechLeading business organizations met in Marrakesh, Morocco on the margins of the UN’S COP22 climate meetings, to address the next steps under the Paris Climate Agreement, specifically the prospects for injecting business expertise and technical advice into the agreement’s implementation at the national and global levels. Convened by USCIB, in cooperation with the Major Economies Business Forum (BizMEF) and the Moroccan business federation CGEM, the Marrakesh Business Dialogue brought together over 70 government, business and UN representatives at the Universite Privé de Marrakesh.

Topics under discussion included where national pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions could be delivered more cost effectively, and where business could provide necessary information to international reviews of progress under the Paris Agreement. Previous USCIB-organized BizMEF Dialogue meetings in Doha, Warsaw and Lima provided important thought leadership and input to the UN process, en route to finalizing the far-reaching treaty agreed last year.

“The Paris Agreement’s entry into force earlier this month increases the urgency to engage business in all aspects of the Paris Agreement, including its implementation,” according to USCIB Vice President Norine Kennedy, who is spearheading USCIB’s representation in Marrakesh.

Opening the meeting, Said Mouline, the Moroccan official responsible for public-private partnerships for COP22, stated that “business engagement is needed for capacity building and technology transfer.” In the course of the dialogue, participants talked about defining entry points in the Paris Agreement for representative business organizations that would contribute to transparency in reporting, reviewing national progress and informing future national pledges.

Business and government representatives agreed that both have a lot to gain from working together on the NDCs, improving transparency and measurement, verification and verification (MRV) systems, and seeking to maintain continuity and resilience of the pledges made. This cooperation will need to long term and ongoing, through the five-year cycles that are at the heart of the infrastructure of the Paris Agreement.

USCIB’s Kennedy presented a recently completed report, Business Engagement in Domestic and International Implementation of the Paris Agreement. This first-of-its-kind report offers case studies from BizMEF partner organizations and recommends a recognized business interface to be developed as part of the Paris Agreement institutional infrastructure.

“USCIB’s consistent message has been that enhancing business engagement is not just a matter of innovative governance and partnership, but also a prerequisite for successful and cost-effective implementation of climate policy,” stated Kennedy. She said such engagement should build on existing entities such as the Green Climate Fund, the Technology Executive Committee, and the Climate Technology Center and Network, and should work in synergy with the Global Action Agenda and NAZCA Platform. “The structure can be similar to other existing successful examples of business consultation and dialogue in inter-governmental forums,” such as the OECD and the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management, she said.

Kennedy added: “It is the business community that will do much of the implementation that is needed to reach the goals under the Paris Agreement, and USCIB has set enhancing recognized business consultation as a priority in its post-Paris climate advocacy.”

Kennedy stated that it is only with broader, more substantive and inclusive business engagement that the Paris Agreement can meet its potential. “This is more than a “nice-to-have,” she said. “It is essential to further the evolution at needed speed and scale to a lower carbon and sustainable global economy.”

BizMEF, of which USCIB is a founding member, is a partnership of leading multi-sectoral business organizations from over 25 major economies that provides responsible business views and practical input to inform deliberations in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).