News Stories Archives

USCIB Op-ed: It’s Time to Save NAFTA

Published on October 27, 2017

USCIB President and CEO Peter M. Robinson has joined ICC Mexico Chair Maria Fernanda Garza and Canadian Chamber of Commerce CEO Perrin Beatty in publishing an op-ed, “A trade deal in distress: It’s time to save NAFTA,” in The Hill.

The op-ed has also been published in Spanish in the Mexican newspaper El Economista.

The op-ed comes as negotiators from the United States, Canada and Mexico take stock following the most recent round of talks, which exposed divisions between the U.S. and its two neighbors on a variety of issues.

The three business leaders express their support of efforts to improve and modernize NAFTA. They also state their concern over proposals that they believe are inconsistent with the principles of free trade and free enterprise, calling them “a dramatic reversal of long-held U.S. trade policy objectives” that “would greatly restrict, rather than enhance, cross-border commerce.”

Please click here to read the op-ed in its entirety on The Hill’s website.

USCIB Applauds 20 Years of Anti-Bribery Convention

Published on October 23, 2017

As the OECD celebrates 20 years of the Anti-bribery convention and 40 years of the FCPA (Foreign Corrupt Practices Act) this year, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Business at OECD will host a conference on “No Turning Back: 40 Years of the FCPA and 20 Years of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention” on November 9th in New York. USCIB will be represented at this event by Eva Hampl, director for Investment, Trade and Financial Services.

USCIB, through its affiliation with Business at OECD, has been working with the OECD Working Group on Bribery, which monitors the implementation and enforcement of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention. Through annual consultations and USCIB’s advocacy efforts, the Working Group has taken up issues that are of interest to U.S. business in their future work plan.

The conference will draw upon expertise and examine the major impact of ground-breaking instruments and corporate behavior and law enforcement priorities. It will explore the role of cooperation between nations in investigating and persecuting foreign bribery and the effectiveness of different approaches to corporate responsibility for bribery. The event will be hosted by NYU School of Law’s Program on Corporate Law and Enforcement. U.S. businesses interested in anti-bribery issues may learn more about the conference and register here.

Prior to the NY event, Hampl will also speak on a panel in a similar event on November 8 in Washington DC and hosted by American University Washington College of Law. Hampl will speak on a panel titled, “Leveraging the Convention and Addressing the Corruption Challenges Ahead,” alongside representatives from the Department of Justice, OECD’s Anti-Corruption Division and Global Financial Integrity. Registration for the Washington event is available here.

Hampl Advocates for Open and Fair Investment Policies at OECD

Published on October 20, 2017

As USCIB continues to advocate for open and fair investment policies in NAFTA and at recent discussions in the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva, USCIB Director of Investment, Trade, and Financial Services Eva Hampl was in Paris last week, participating in the meetings of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Investment Committee. Hampl also held several bilateral meetings with various OECD investment staff and officials from the U.S. Mission to the OECD.

The agenda of the OECD Investment Committee was extensive, including the work of the Freedom of Investment Roundtable, covering issues including societal costs and benefits of international investment agreements, investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) and related issues, particularly regarding an overview of arbitrators in investment arbitrations and adjudicator compensation systems in dispute settlement. The meetings also discussed the strategic direction for the OECD investment work.

During the stakeholder consultation, Business at OECD made strong statements focused primarily on international investment agreements, specifically ISDS and related issues.

“We maintained our position that investment agreements are very important to business, and are necessary for a robust international investment environment,” said Hampl. “Unfortunately, the OECD has not yet been able to produce reliable data definitively proving the benefits of IIAs,” she added.

Hampl also made an intervention on behalf of U.S. industry, underlining the importance of empirical research in this area, and raising concerns about leaving a vacuum of information in the space related to IIAs.

“In today’s political environment that appears to be progressively more hostile toward foreign investment, advocating for these protections is vital,” said Hampl. “As the OECD continues to develop policy documents on these issues, USCIB will actively participate in shaping these policies.”

Big Turnout on Capitol Hill Raises Alarm on NAFTA Talks

Published on October 18, 2017

Last week, as the fourth round of talks between the United States, Canada and Mexico on the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement unfolded, USCIB joined many of its members and other associations in flooding Congressional offices on Capitol Hill, raising serious concern over the direction of talks. According to Eva Hampl, USCIB’s director of trade and investment policy, who took part, private-sector representatives spent a full day talking to House Republicans as well as a few Democrats, mainly staff members but also including a few members themselves.

Hampl stated: “The views from House offices varied from understanding the problems presented by statements coming from many U.S. negotiators and administration officials, to having a few specific issues they cared about, to not yet having decided a position on NAFTA modernization. We spent a good amount of time explaining to those who were bogged down in specific issues, or those who did not yet care, that the key elements of the U.S. trading system of the U.S. are at risk.”

Worrisome, and potentially protectionist, proposals coming from the U.S. side in the NAFTA talks address rules of origin, government procurement, investor-state dispute settlement, and a proposed sunset provision that would essentially force NAFTA to be renewed at regular intervals.

“At the same time, a lot of progress is being made in the negotiations in chapters such as customs, digital trade, and in the regulatory space,” Hampl noted. “The U.S. could certainly log a win in this modernization effort if NAFTA 2.0 included those provisions.” But she said there is “great concern” in the business community that NAFTA is being set up to fail with some of the proposals that are being tabled.

USCIB co-sponsored a reception on the sidelines of the NAFTA talks, where Hampl amplified USCIB’s central message of urgency, noting that USCIB members rely on the agreement and its benefits for their operations, which provide jobs for U.S. workers. “NAFTA has done a lot for the U.S. economy and USCIB member companies over the last 23 years, so while this is a great opportunity to bring this agreement into the 21st century, if the existing benefits are lost, that effort will be significantly undermined,” she said.

Another Capitol Hill business lobbying day is planned for October 24. At the conclusion of the fourth round of NAFTA talks, negotiators agreed to defer the next round by at least a month, and to extend negotiations at least through the first quarter of 2018. The next round is slated to begin November 17 in Mexico.

Mulligan Talks NAFTA at CSI Summit

Published on October 18, 2017
Rob Mulligan at CSI

USCIB Senior Vice President for Policy and Government Affairs Rob Mulligan spoke at a Coalition of Services Industries (CSI) summit earlier this week on USCIB’s North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) priorities.

USCIB members have benefited from NAFTA and believe the current negotiations should ensure that the beneficial parts are preserved, that is ‘do no harm,’ while also taking advantage of the opportunity to improve it in areas that were not addressed two decades ago.

Mulligan noted that NAFTA can be brought into the 21st century by including provisions that ensure cross-border data flows, include strong e-commerce rules, protect against data localization requirements, and level the playing field for firms competing against state-owned enterprises.  More can also be done to improve the customs processes with Canada and Mexico.  Increased transparency in the publication of laws, regulations and procedures would improve customs administration. And bringing de minimis thresholds into relative alignment would facilitate trade, especially for small businesses. All of these steps will help U.S. businesses grow and create jobs.

However, Mulligan raised concerns over several moves by the U.S. during the fourth round of negotiations, “Recent U.S. proposals for a sunset clause, to restrict government procurement, allow an opt out of ISDS, and impose new content requirements for autos will not expand trade and we are concerned that they could force eventual failure of NAFTA that would severely impact the U.S. economy and millions of jobs that are tied to NAFTA.”

Mulligan noted that while USCIB member companies strongly support NAFTA and have greatly benefited from it over the last 23 years, they want the governments to avoid changes to existing parts of NAFTA that would harm trade rather than expand it.

USCIB Huddles with US Mission in Geneva

Published on October 16, 2017
USCIB’s Shaun Donnelly at meetings in Geneva

On the margins of the UN Conference on Trade and Development  (UNCTAD) meetings in Geneva, USCIB Vice President for Trade Services Shaun Donnelly went to the U.S. Mission (i.e. the multilateral US Embassy) to UN agencies for a morning of meetings on October 12. Donnelly, a retired State Department ambassador, had a wide-ranging, hour-long meeting with the U.S. Mission Chargé D’affaires Ted Allegra in the absence of a new U.S. Ambassador (yet to be nominated.)

Donnelly also had a roundtable with U.S. Mission staff managing U.S. participation on a range of UN agencies including the International Labor Organization, World Health Organization, WIPO, Human Rights Commission and the World Trade Organization. They discussed concerns of USCIB and its members on policies, budgets, and business access in several Geneva agencies.

Donnelly noted afterwards, “I really appreciated the opportunity to sit down with U.S. Chargé in Geneva Ted Allegra, an experienced and respected diplomat, and to highlight priorities and policy concerns of our members.”

Donnelly and other USCIB staff routinely stay in close contact with various staffers in the U.S. mission in Geneva. “But the opportunity to voice our key concerns directly to the acting U.S. Ambassador in Geneva was both timely and useful,” he added.

USCIB Leads Geneva Fight for Strong Investment Agreements

Published on October 16, 2017

 

As anti-business rhetoric continues to emerge in various intergovernmental forums, USCIB Vice President for Trade and Financial Services Shaun Donnelly led a small but vocal international business delegation at last week’s annual High-level International Investment Agreements (IIAs) Conference at the UN Conference on Trade and development (UNCTAD) in Geneva.

As with many UNCTAD events, this three-day investment conference was dominated by government, UN and international organization experts, NGO activists and academics.  Donnelly was joined by USCIB’s partner BDI, the leading German business association, as the only business voices among over 200 delegates.

Issues on the UNCTAD agenda included reforming investment agreements, alternatives to Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) to resolve disputes, rebalancing rights and obligations between investors and host governments and alternative strategies to fix IIAs.

UNCTAD gave Donnelly a prominent spot in the opening plenary and keynote slots on two major breakout groups as well as in the closing plenary. In addition to rebuting some anti-IIA and anti-ISDS political diatribes, Donnelly emphasized some basic themes, including that it is private investors who drive growth, jobs and progress. “The IIA protections do matter to investors,” emphasized Donnelly. “Strong ISDS provisions are critical to ensure implementation of investment agreements. Investment agreements which earn rave reviews from governments, academics and UN bureaucrats but which don’t work for business won’t yield investments and all the benefits which flow from private investment flows,” he added.

USCIB Testifies on China WTO Compliance

Published on October 10, 2017

In response to Federal Register notice 82 FR 36071, USCIB Director, Investment, Trade and Financial Services Eva Hampl, provided oral testimony on Wednesday, October 4 to the U.S. government interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) regarding China’s compliance with its WTO commitments on behalf of USCIB and its members.

“USCIB and its members understand and appreciate that U.S.-China economic relations are complex and multifaceted, and American business holds a direct and important stake in this relationship and in its success,” noted Hampl in her testomony.

The testimony amplified priority issues for USCIB members, in addition to the written submission made in September. The Q&A session following the oral statement included questions from the various agencies on issues of regularly transparency, technology transfer, trade secrets, discriminatory industrial policies, and agricultural biotech.

On IT security measures, Hampl emphasized, “The Cybersecurity Law, which went into effect in June of this year, establishes a number of burdensome restrictions on the cross-border flow of data and establishes intrusive security reviews of equipment and services used by network operators and operators of critical information infrastructure.” Hampl therefore urged the U.S. government to continue to press for full suspension of all existing and proposed measures involving trade-restrictive requirements in this area.

In addition to discussing these issues with the interagency committee, Hampl emphasized USCIB’s support of continuing negotiations of a US-China Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT), expressing USCIB’s hope that efforts to conclude a high-standard BIT will soon resume on the remaining issues.

Multilateral Effort Needed to Address Tax in Digital Economy

Published on October 2, 2017

In response to recent European Union proposals concerning taxation of the digital economy, Business at OECD (BIAC) expressed deep concerns that unilateral action for the taxation of the digital economy will lead to serious distortions in markets and global value chains.

“Business at OECD representing corporate communities across the globe is fully and constructively engaged in the OECD/G20 process to address Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS), including Action 1 on the digital economy”, confirmed Business at OECD Secretary General Bernhard Welschke. “We recognize there are important and complex issues concerning the digitalization of our economies. However, unilateral action in this field will lead to costly fragmentation and threatens to diminish the considerable potential for growth and innovation,” he added.

Welschke noted that only a comprehensive multilateral engagement between tax authorities, taxpayers and other stakeholders will lead to outcomes that support a successful digital transformation. “Therefore, the OECD is the most appropriate forum in which to pursue this engagement, and we encourage all countries to participate in this multilateral effort,” explained Welschke.

USCIB’s tax expert Carol Doran Klein also noted: “For business to flourish in the digital economy, tax rules must be implemented in a coherent and coordinated manner. USCIB worked actively through BIAC to shape the BEPS work toward this end. Fragmented rules are likely to result in double taxation and a negative impact on global trade and Investment.”

WTO Meetings in Geneva Set the Stage for Upcoming Ministerial

Published on October 2, 2017

As governments begin to prepare for the upcoming World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial (MC 11) in December, USCIB Senior Vice President Rob Mulligan traveled to Geneva last week for the WTO’s annual Public Forum, as well as related meetings organized by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).  Mulligan also met separately with a range of officials from the WTO, U.S. government, foreign governments and international organizations.

The issues mentioned most often in these meetings as having the potential for some type of action at the Ministerial included investment facilitation, fisheries subsidies, e-commerce, services facilitation and agriculture.  However, it also seems that each of these are facing challenges that could prevent a deliverable at MC 11.

Discussions during the Public Forum around the impact of trade often looked at the impact of technology and the need for better approaches to education and training, as well as more effective safety nets for those losing jobs. Additionally, some countries, including the United States, voiced the need for institutional reform at the WTO. According to Mulligan, it was suggested that business could play an important role in pressing for reforms.

“While the Ministerial may not produce a number of deliverables, business engagement will be needed to ensure that the WTO moves forward after the Ministerial on issues that address meaningful concerns with the global trading system,” said Mulligan. “This will be important to preserving the relevance and value of the WTO in opening global markets,” he added.

In addition to the Public Forum, ICC hosted a panel that highlighted the report they had sponsored in March with a range of ideas for the WTO to take up at the December Ministerial.  Panelists also discussed the importance of investment protections and cross-border data flows to business.  ICC noted that they will be working with the government of Argentina in organizing a Business Day in Buenos Aires on December 12 that will deliver recommendations to the WTO on future work.

This year’s WTO Ministerial will be hosted by Argentina.