USCIB Makes a Case for FDI and Investor Rights at OECD

Published on April 13, 2022

USCIB members and staff made a compelling case for foreign direct investment FDI) and investor rights last week as part of a roundtable discussion with leadership at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Senior Vice President of International Government Affairs at USCIB member Chubb Yancy Molnar described the contradiction between high demand for FDI today accompanied by a deteriorating environment for investment due to growing anti-business bias around the globe.

“Chubb has never seen such uncertainty,” proclaimed Molnar, which is particularly troubling for insurance, telecommunications and financial services companies, which often have to establish operations in country for prudential reasons. These industries are “heavily regulated and need more protections,” he argued.

Many trends today raise concerns. There is growing pressure to elevate the interests of civil society and sovereign authority in investment agreements and investor state dispute settlement proceedings. There are efforts to reshore supply chains which can translate into an anti-FDI bias.

Moreover, as geo-political frictions rise, nations around the globe are more closely scrutinizing and restricting both inbound and outbound investments through a national security lens. Some USCIB companies face potential expropriation of assets for complying with sanctions regimes in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“All are creating a chill on FDI flows,” noted USCIB Senior Advisor Shaun Donnelly.

USCIB Director for Investment, Trade and China Alice Slayton Clark intervened, arguing “governments and international organizations have a critical role, today more than ever, in providing the necessary welcoming environment to encourage foreign direct investment in an uncertain world.” She urged the OECD and nation states to engage more closely with industry to learn about growing barriers to investment and defend a rules-based trade and investment system, particularly the investor state dispute settlement system which safeguards investor rights particularly when investing in riskier markets.

The April 5 roundtable was organized by Business at OECD (BIAC) to connect BIAC members directly with the OECD Investment Committee leadership. OECD Investment Division Head Ana Novik and the OECD Investment Committee Chair Manfred Schekulin attended, as well as leading business representatives from Europe and Japan. USCIB is grateful to Business at OECD for organizing the important engagement.

USCIB Submits Comments to USTR on Indo-Pacific Economic Framework

Published on April 13, 2022

USCIB submitted comments this week on the trade aspects of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), a new Biden Administration initiative to engage regional partners on economic and trade priorities. U.S. officials do not envision the IPEF to produce a traditional trade agreement, but to instead achieve better harmonization and liberalization in the areas of trade, supply chain resilience, infrastructure, decarbonization, tax and anticorruption.

USCIB members welcome the initiative and seek ambitious results. With a population of 1.5 billion people, 62 percent of world-GDP and 46 percent of the world’s merchandise trade, the Indo-Pacific region offers significant market potential for American companies and the millions of workers they employ.

“We urge the Administration to pursue a substantive agreement with concrete outcomes, common standards, and strong rules that are enforceable and binding,” said USCIB Director for Investment, Trade and China Alice Slayton Clark.  “An affirmative economic strategy in the Indo-Pacific is critical to advancing U.S. economic and strategic interests.”

USCIB’s comments emphasized the importance of free market principles, particularly in the wake of COVID-19: “As the world rebounds from COVID-19, the United States can contribute to an inclusive, even and robust recovery with stronger trade engagement in the region, a goal made more urgent today as democracy, rule of law and free market principles come under challenge. The IPEF must strengthen U.S. relationships in the region, create more resilient supply chains and ultimately make U.S. allies less vulnerable to China’s economic coercion.”

USCIB Contributes Business Insights at SHRM’s Workplace Policy conference

Published on April 6, 2022
SHRM’s Workplace Policy Conference

USCIB Vice President for Corporate Responsibility and Labor Affairs Gabriella Rigg Herzog participated in the SHRM Workplace Policy Conference on March 28.  As a panel moderator, Herzog facilitated a session titled, “The Global Economy and the Workplace: How our Interconnected World Impacts Lives and Livelihoods,” which featured world-leading economists: Chief Economist of the Burning Glass Institute Gad Levanon, Daniel Rogger, economist at the World Bank as well as Vice President and Chief Economist of the Progressive Policy Institute Michael Mandel.

According to Herzog, with a focus on how the shifting global economy impacts businesses, workers and workplaces, the panelists highlighted important policy levers, such as well governed labor migration, business initiatives like skills-based hiring, apprenticeships, and training and upskilling opportunities for current employees as effective measures policy makers and businesses can take as we work towards an inclusive recovery.

SHRM’s Workplace Policy conference was held March 27-29 in Washington, DC

USCIB Attends UN Global Biodiversity Framework Negotiations in Geneva 

Published on March 30, 2022

The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UN CBD) convened the Open-ended Working Group on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) in Geneva, Switzerland March 14 – 29 at the Centre International de Conférences Genève.  

Government delegations continued negotiations of the GBF, a proposed set of over twenty targets pertaining to international cooperative action by governments, business and other key actors to protect and steward biodiversity.  

USCIB Senior Vice President for Policy and Global Strategy Norine Kennedy and Policy and Program Associate for Sustainability Agnes Vinblad represented USCIB members during the second week of negotiations in Geneva, March 21 – 25. Kennedy and Vinblad followed developments related to USCIB’s priority targets determined by the USCIB Environment Committee: Target 7 (Pollution and Plastic Waste); Target 13 (Access and Benefit Sharing); Target 15 (Expectations of Business) and Target 17 (Biotechnology). USCIB supported members in attendance, including representatives from Bayer and CropLife.  

USCIB highlighted the importance of all-of-economy approaches, reflecting opportunities and risks in sustainable use and stewardship of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Since the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework is intended to catalyze a participatory inclusive whole-of-society approach, USCIB will continue to advocate meaningful and substantive engagement for business.  

“Looking at new emerging issues for U.S. business relating to this international biodiversity deliberation, we see Digital Sequence Information (DSI) and the sharing of proceeds associated with utilizing this important resource for R&D as an increasingly critical topic,” said Kennedy.  

Target 15 addresses business and biodiversity, and USCIB is concerned about additional burdens on business that could be included in the GBF. Proposals under this draft target include calls for stronger requirements for businesses to assess, monitor, disclose and report dependencies and impacts on biodiversity across operations, value chains and portfolios. USCIB is following these developments closely and will provide members with further details on next steps.

USCIB collaborated with colleagues from ICC who were in attendance including Director of Peace and Prosperity Daphne Yong-d’Hervé and Global Policy Manager of Intellectual Property and Innovation Danny Grajales.  

While government delegations made some progress in the GBF negotiations, there will be a further meeting of the GBF Group June 21 – 26 in Nairobi, Kenya to continue negotiations before expected adoption at the resumed UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in Kunming, China to take place in the third quarter of 2022 with exact dates yet to be decided.  

USCIB Joins Stockholm+50 Preparatory Meeting at UN Headquarters   

Published on March 30, 2022
Agnes Vinblad

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the United Nations (UN) Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm in 1972, the UN General Assembly will convene an international meeting in Stockholm, Sweden June 2-3, 2022. The theme of the meeting will be, “Stockholm+50: a healthy planet for the prosperity of all – our responsibility, our opportunity.”  

On March 28, the President of the General Assembly Ambassador Abdulla Shahid invited government delegations and civil society to partake in the Stockholm+50 Preparatory Meeting at UN Headquarters in New York. Representing USCIB, Policy and Program Associate for Sustainability Agnes Vinblad attended in person. The meeting was chaired by the Stockholm+50 co-hosts, Sweden and Kenya, with sessions organized around the three Stockholm+50 Leadership Dialogues: 

  • Leadership dialogue 1: Reflecting on the urgent need for actions to achieve a healthy planet and prosperity of all.  
  • Leadership dialogue 2: Achieving a sustainable and inclusive recovery from the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19).  
  • Leadership dialogue 3: Accelerating the implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development in the context of the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development.  

Plenary interventions focused on topics such as mitigation and adaptation, climate finance, sustainable production and consumption, nature-based solutions, and the recommendations outlined in the UN Secretary General’s Report, “Our Common Agenda.”  

“This preparatory meeting emphasized systemic change and the need for new ways to measure economic success through a lens of sustainability and intergenerational justice with an ambition of achieving a just transition,” said Vinblad. “USCIB sees Stockholm+50 as an opportunity for business to yet again show its unparalleled ability to not only contribute to – but also take the lead on – sustainable development.” 

Adopted on June 16, 1972, the UN Stockholm Declaration was the first document to recognize the interconnections between development, poverty, and the environment. Building on this heritage, Stockholm+50 will be a global conference focused on multilateral dialogue to accelerate action on the SDGs towards the realization of Agenda 2030, while serving as a critical steppingstone for the global multilateral community on the path towards UNFCCC COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt in November.  

Building on the commemorative nature of Stockholm+50, Vinblad said that USCIB wants to fit business into that narrative, showing that the private sector has been concerned with issues related to sustainability and climate change since the inception of the Stockholm Declaration in 1972. 

USCIB Congratulates the Newly Elected ILO Director General Gilbert Houngbo

Published on March 30, 2022
Left to right: USCIB Senior Counsel and ILO Governing Body Member Tom Mackall shakes hands with ILO Director General Elect Gilbert Houngbo of Togo.

The United States Council for International Business (USCIB) warmly congratulates Gilbert Houngbo of Togo for his election as Director General of the International Labor Organization (ILO). Elected by the ILO’s Governing Body, made up of government, worker and employer members, Director General Elect Houngbo will be the eleventh Director General of the ILO and the first from the African continent.

USCIB Senior Counsel and ILO Governing Body Member Tom Mackall was present in Geneva to cast a vote on behalf of U.S. Employers during this important election.

This election comes at a critical time, and many of the workforce challenges that existed before the pandemic have come into sharper focus in the past two years.

Of this election, USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson said, “Building forward together will require our best thinking on how to shape labor market regulations to drive growth and innovation, prepare current and future workers for coming industrial revolutions, and ensure inclusive opportunities for all in the future of work. Director General Elect Houngbo’s years of experience in leadership roles in international organizations, including the ILO, make him an exceptionally qualified candidate. USCIB and our Members look forward to the opportunity to work with Mr. Houngbo on these critical challenges.”

USCIB Policy Experts Participate in B20 Indonesia

Published on March 23, 2022

Several USCIB policy experts are actively participating in B20 2022, the official global business dialogue with G20 nations.

Led by Indonesia this year, the B20 is comprised of seven task forces that develop consensus-based policy proposals outlining business priorities on key issue confronting the G20 nations in the year ahead. Senior Vice President for Innovation, Regulation, and Trade Brian Lowry and Policy and Program Associate for Sustainability Agnes Vinblad are on the Task Force for Integrity and Compliance, USCIB Senior Vice President for Policy and Global Strategy Norine Kennedy is on the Task Force on Energy, Sustainability and Climate, USCIB Vice President for Corporate Responsibility and Labor Affairs Gabriella Rigg Herzog is on the Future of work and Education Task Force, USCIB Vice President for ICT Policy Barbara Wanner is on the Task Force on Digitalization, and Director for Investment, Trade and China Alice Slayton Clark is on the Trade and Investment Task Force.

“USCIB helps shape actionable policy recommendations provided through these task forces that will be shared with the G20 leaders when they meet in Indonesia in November,” said Lowry. “We at USCIB look forward to the advancement of business’ priorities to the G20 policymakers to help inform policies to advance a stable and inclusive post-pandemic economic recovery and supply chain resiliency, while grappling with the difficult national security issues confronting the world today.”

Business Explores Approach to DNS Abuse Mitigation, Ukraine Crisis Hangs over ICANN

Published on March 23, 2022

For more than two years, members of the Domain Name System (DNS) user community have highlighted the need for more effective Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) policies and contractual tools to crack down on abuse in the DNS, which spiked during the COVID-19 crisis. ICANN 73, held virtually on March 7-10, featured a plenary that sought to grapple with DNS abuse mitigation in a more focused and actionable manner. Using as reference an academic study commissioned by the European Commission, plenary speakers explored the distinction between maliciously registered domain names versus compromised domain names and discussed why this differentiation is important for timely mitigation.

According to USCIB Vice President for ICT Policy Barbara Wanner, who participated as an industry representative, panelists underscored the need for the ICANN community to work together to address this challenge, recognizing that a one-size-fits-all approach may not be appropriate, that DNS users and providers will have to work both inside the ICANN community as well as reach out to “adjacent organizations” like hosting services to develop effective redress, and that “proportionality of harm” must be considered.

Not surprisingly, according to Wanner, the crisis in Ukraine was top-of-mind for all participants, who offered various views about an appropriate response by ICANN and its constituents. On February 28, the Government of Ukraine asked ICANN to revoke permanently or temporarily the domain name certificates for “.ru,” “.su” among others as sanctions for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, “… a clear act of aggression and a manifest violation of Article 2.4 of the UN Charter.”

Ukraine’s letter to ICANN CEO Goran Marby further justified such sanctions on grounds that “… atrocious crimes have been made possible mainly due to the Russian propaganda machinery using websites continuously spreading disinformation, hate speech, promoting violence and hiding the truth regarding the war in Ukraine.”

Marby responded that ICANN would not intervene in this conflict. While expressing personal concern about Ukrainians’ well-being as well as the “terrible toll being exacted on your country,” he wrote to Ukrainian authorities that ICANN’s mission “does not extend to taking punitive actions, issuing sanctions, or restricting access against segments of the Internet — regardless of the provocations.”

“On March 6, however, the ICANN Board decided to allocate an initial sum of $1 million to be used to provide financial assistance to support access to Internet infrastructure in emergency situations, noting that the distribution ‘will focus on maintaining Internet access for users within Ukraine,’” said Wanner.

On March 7, ICANN further clarified that events in Ukraine would formally be considered an “extenuating circumstance under Section 3.7.5.1 of the 2013 Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA). This means that registrars now have the flexibility to extend the domain name registration renewal period for domain name holders in affected areas.

ICANN Board Chair Maarten Botterman further clarified on March 10 that the Board will shortly consider policy advice from the Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO) aimed at retiring the “.su” domain name.

ICC Releases Recent Trends in Trade and Trade Finance Report, Includes Impact of Ukraine Crisis on Global Recovery, Inflation

Published on March 22, 2022

The International Chamber of Commerce’s (ICC) Global Policy department has recently released the report, Recent Trends in Trade and Trade Finance. This report delves into the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the implications on global trade and finance, as well as the major challenges that can hamper a successful economic recovery.

While focused on trade, banking and finance issues, the report is also relevant to other policy areas, such as ICT, workers and the environment.

To complement this analysis, ICC also released a related presentation, looking at the global impact of the crisis in Ukraine on recovery and further inflation through, for example, supply-chain disruptions, lower consumer and business confidence, inflation in agriculture, manufacturing and energy, as well as liquidity and fiscal risks resulting from currency depreciations and increasing financing costs.

According to ICC, the “Recent Trends in Trade and Trade Finance” report will be used for advocacy geared toward increasing resilience to trade disruptions by enhancing trade digitalization.

 

 

USCIB Provides Business Recommendations During ‘Our Common Agenda’ Consultation at UN Headquarters

Published on March 16, 2022
Peter Robinson at the United Nations HQ in NY

USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson was invited as a speaker for the fifth and final Informal Thematic Consultation on the United Nations report Our Common Agenda (OCA) on March 11 under the theme Enhancing International Cooperation. Representing USCIB, Robinson attended the consultation in person at the UN Headquarters in New York. 

In his remarks, Robinson referenced a quote by UN Secretary General António Guterres on how the international community currently is facing a momentous choice: will we “break through or break down?”  

“This question is even more urgent in light of recent disruptive events,” said Robinson. “Can the multilateral system survive these challenges? For business, the answer must be yes. Moreover, the private sector is part of the support structure needed to restore and strengthen the multilateral system and realize Our Common Agenda’s vision of more inclusive international cooperation.”

Robinson then went on to express gratitude to USCIB’s partners in the global business community, “When it comes to international cooperation, our focus here today, USCIB is privileged to be part of global leading business groups dedicated to working with the multilateral system – ICC, IOE and BIAC.” 

Highlighting business recommendations to the UN in taking forward the proposals set out in the OCA, Robinson advocated for the need to regard business and employers’ organizations as essential attributes of democratic and inclusive governance in both national and international settings and the critical need to crowd in and mainstream public-private sector partnerships.  

“Let me close with what might at first sound like a provocative statement: there can no longer be any conflict of interest between the private sector and the UN,” added Robinson. “Time and again, whether in response to the pandemic, or in unprecedented support for the Paris Agreement, or in humanitarian responses to help refugees, the private sector has leaned into international cooperation for our shared interests. Let us pursue the OCA’s opportunities through inclusive practical multilateralism, involving business, for the UN we want and need.” 

The President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Abdulla Shahid has convened five informal thematic consultations on the landmark UN report, Our Common Agenda (OCA), released by Guterres in September 2021. Through a five-part series of consultations, commencing with the first one in February 2022, Member States and other stakeholders, including the private sector, have been given the opportunity to discuss the proposals outlined in the OCA and their potential implementation in the Decade of Action.  

To find more information on Our Common Agenda, please visit this website.