Global Business Welcomes New WTO Director General Ahead of Bali Conference

Published on May 14, 2013

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the world business organization for which USCIB serves as the American national committee, warmly congratulated Ambassador Roberto Carvalho de Azevedo of Brazil on his selection as the new director general of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

“The global business community congratulates Roberto Azevedo on his appointment,” said ICC Chairman-elect Terry McGraw, the CEO of McGraw-Hill Financial who also serves as chairman of USCIB. “We welcome Mr. Azevedo’s extensive experience in international economic affairs, and we pledge to work with him and his colleagues at the WTO to achieve even greater advancements in global trade to the benefit of all nations and their citizens, We also want to express our special thanks to Pascal Lamy for his tireless service as director general.”

ICC and the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry launched the World Trade Agenda initiative at the WTO in March 2012. Its aim is to mobilize the business community in support of harvesting results on trade facilitation and other elements of the Doha Round negotiations at the 9th WTO Ministerial Conference in Bali this coming December.

ICC has undertaken an intensive program of consultations over the past year, reaching out to ICC’s network of 6.5 million companies in 130 countries.

The Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, D.C. recently quantified the potential benefits from ICC’s recommendations in a report entitled Payoff from the World Trade Agenda 2013. It found that by simplifying customs procedures – through trade facilitation measures – alone, member countries would deliver global job gains of 21 million, with developing countries gaining more than 18 million jobs and developed countries increasing their workforce by three million.

The World Trade Agenda was launched in response to calls from WTO members and from G20 leaders for fresh approaches following an 11-year impasse in multilateral trade negotiations. Business recommendations from this initiative will be delivered to G20 leaders and WTO ministers ahead of both the G20 Summit in Saint Petersburg and the Bali WTO Ministerial Conference.

USCIB Rallies Support for World Bank Doing Business Reports

Published on May 8, 2013

USCIB and its global partners, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and International Organization of Employers (IOE), are spearheading business advocacy to maintain the integrity and rigor of the World Bank’s annual “Doing Business” report and ranking.

In a response to criticism from China and other countries, the new president of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, appointed an independent panel of outside experts to review the Doing Business reports, which many in the business community view as a useful measuring tool for understanding the comparative attractiveness of a country’s business and investment climate.

The Doing Business reports currently provide objective measures and rankings of business regulations for local firms in 185 economies and selected cities around the world. In addition, the reports can serve an important policy function by providing leverage for economic reforms in nations where excessive regulation and hidden costs impede the process of starting and running a business.

China in particular has criticized what it says are the report’s “unfair” rankings. As reported in the Financial Times, China ranked 91st out of 185 economies in the most recent Doing Business report, with especially low scores for its construction bureaucracy and tax system.

The panel review is being conducted amid opposition to the report series from a coalition of NGOs, academics, labor unions, and large borrower countries. Using an open consultation process, the expert panel is soliciting comments and will use them as inputs into the decision-making process for the reports. In response, USCIB is leading an effort within the business community to emphasize the value of the reports as an unbiased and reliable source of information on investment, economic development, job creation, and market conditions in countries around the world.

Hearing for stakeholders

On April 18, ICC Secretary General Jean-Guy Carrier delivered comments directly to the independent panel, underscoring the important contribution of the reports to stakeholders spanning business and government entities. USCIB was represented at the hearing by Shaun Donnelly, vice president for investment and financial services, who afterward participated in a Q&A session with panel members. For its part, the IOE submitted comments to the panel and mobilized its worldwide networks of national employers’ bodies to do the same.

The following day, USCIB led a group of business and think-tank representatives in an open discussion session with the panel. According to Donnelly, USCIB is “speaking up aggressively on the value of a rigorous annual Doing Business Report, focused on real-world metrics of direct relevance to local and international business as they make investment and hiring decisions.”

Adam Greene, USCIB’s vice president for labor and corporate responsibility, was critical of the World Bank’s process in setting up the independent panel, noting that the panel had no business representatives even though its original terms of reference called for this. He called the consultation process “haphazard and not well communicated.”

Greene submitted a response to four questions solicited for the review process, covering topics such as the value, relevance, impartiality, effectiveness, and decision-making impact of the reports, as well as how they could be improved. His responses underscored that “the value of the report is that it speaks to the relationship between economic development, regulation, and report creation, and suggests ways to reduce the informal economy, where workers have no protections.”

He also noted that the Doing Business project addresses precisely the types of issues that the private sector believes must be included in the UN’s post-2015 development agenda, i.e., fostering a conducive environment for private enterprise and growth that can raise living standards and provide the resources to tackle urgent societal problems. “The fact that a number of countries are seeking to undermine that process indicates that some states aren’t very interested in taking serious steps to foster good governance or economic growth.”

The panel’s final report is expected within the next two weeks.

Staff contacts: Shaun Donnelly and Adam Greene

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G20/OECD AntiCorruption Conference

Published on April 30, 2013

A strong business contingent turned out for the third annual High-Level Anti-Corruption Conference for G20 Governments and Business, which took place April 25-26 at the Paris headquarters of the OECD. Jointly organized by the Russian Presidency of the G20 and the OECD, with support from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the conference brought together some 300 participants from government, business and civil society to discuss the priorities laid out in the 2013-2014 G20 Anti-Corruption Action Plan and B20 recommendations to governments.

BIAC Chairman and USCIB board member Charlie Heeter (Deloitte) said the OECD can and should play an important role by developing global frameworks to address the problems of corruption and bribery and continuing its active involvement in the G20 process. It is important to create fair conditions for all market participants, foster consistent implementation of existing rules to create a level playing field and fight corruption and fraud through collective action, education, training, and partnership approaches that are mutually beneficial.

Heeter said governments should create an efficient legal and institutional framework, also addressing the demand side of corruption. The private sector has a key role to play, both by supporting governments to take action and by taking appropriate measures to address the challenges of corruption.

Erik Belfrage, chair of the ICC Commission on Corporate Responsibility and Anti-Corruption, underscored how concrete ICC tools for training and capacity building help companies – particularly small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) – fight corruption. Belfrage, who is also chairman of the International Council of Swedish Industry, called attention to the groundwork laid by the ICC Rules on Combating Corruption, which provide a global standard for the private sector to fight corruption.

News Brief High Standards Needed in U.S. – China Investment Treaty

Published on March 5, 2013

Columbia University’s Vale Center has published a short essay by Shaun Donnelly, USCIB’s vice president for investment and financial services, presenting the business case for a high-standards U.S.-China bilateral investment treaty (BIT). The essay appears in the center’s journal Columbia FDI Perspectives and is available by clicking here.

Donnelly’s piece responds to an earlier essay in the journal by Karl Sauvant and Huipeng Chen advocating a different approach toward the China BIT negotiations. He argues that it is essential to get a comprehensive, high-standard BIT with China, with meaningful market-opening liberalization as well as strong investor-state dispute resolution provisions, and not to settle for a quick compromise with lower protections just for the sake of getting a deal. Donnelly argues that both the U.S. and Chinese governments – as well as their respective business communities – need the strong protections and dispute-settlement provisions one can only get in a high-standard, 21st-century BIT.

USCIB is actively working to promote member views in the context of the U.S.-China BIT negotiations, and views a high-standards BIT as a key element in USCIB’s 2013 trade and investment agenda.

Staff contact: Shaun Donnelly

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USCIB Highlights Business Priorities for Upcoming UPU Ministerial

Published on September 17, 2012

The Universal Postal Union (UPU) holds its quadrennial “congress” (i.e., ministerial) meeting in Doha, Qatar from September 24 to October 15. USCIB continues to urge the U.S. delegation to the UPU to work closely with interested U.S. private-sector companies, and to pay particular attention to assuring a level playing field if and when postal services anywhere in the world compete directly with the private sector, including on package delivery services and financial services.

As postal revenue dries up around the world, many publicly operated postal organizations may be tempted to get into new lines of business. This presents a vexing challenge to private-sector companies that may find themselves in competition with these state-supported entities. Last November, USCIB and three other business groups sent a letter to the Obama Administration urging the U.S. to prepare diligently for the Doha congress.

Staff contact: Shaun Donnelly

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Business Trade Experts Work to Break Deadlock in Global Trade Talks

Published on March 16, 2012

L-R: WTO Director General Pascal Lamy, ICC Honorary Chairman Victor K. Fung, USCIB Chairman (and ICC Vice Chair) Harold McGraw III, and ICC Chairman Gerard Worms. — L-R: WTO Director General Pascal Lamy, ICC Honorary
Chairman Victor K. Fung, USCIB Chairman (and ICC Vice Chair) Harold McGraw
III, and ICC Chairman Gerard Worms.

Business leaders and trade experts met in Geneva earlier this week for the first conference on the ICC Business World Trade Agenda, an initiative of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), part of USCIB’s global network. The initiative aims to ensure that business works together with governments to
drive more effective trade talks.

More than 70 business experts, including CEOs, senior corporate executives and representatives of business organizations, together with World Trade Organization (WTO) Director General Pascal Lamy, took part in the event. USCIB was represented by Chairman Harold McGraw III and Senior Vice President Rob Mulligan as well as a number of member executives.

Global business leaders involved in this initiative aimed to define multilateral trade negotiation priorities for business, and to help governments set a trade policy agenda for the 21st century that contributes to economic growth and job creation.

“It is crucial that governments work directly with the global business community to find answers to the current economic crisis,” said ICC Chairman Gerard Worms. “Opening trade and investment offers a stimulus to the global economy and would give business the clear sign that governments will not resort to protectionism.”

For the first time in 60 years, the multilateral trade negotiation process is at a standstill, and after 10 years, the Doha Development Agenda has reached a stalemate. Yet global trade remains a mainstay of the world economy and it is therefore crucial that global trade rules address the needs of the global marketplace.

“Business is especially troubled by the threat of increased protectionism from the world’s major economies. During this economic crisis, governments should be opening markets to stimulate their economies rather than putting up barriers to trade,” Victor K. Fung, chairman of the ICC Business World Trade Agenda initiative and honorary chairman of ICC said.

ICC launched in December 2011 the Business World Trade Agenda at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Geneva, answering the call from G20 leaders at the recent Summit in Cannes for new approaches to trade negotiations. ICC is bolstered by the support it has received from the WTO in engaging business to provide recommendations to advance global trade negotiations.

USCIB to Prepare Recommendations on Next Steps for Trade

Published on December 9, 2011

At the December 1 meeting of USCIB’s Trade and Investment Committee, chaired by Scott Miller (director of national government relations with Procter & Gamble), members moved forward on planned USCIB recommendations on the international trade and investment agenda.

With the recent passage of three long-pending free trade agreements with Colombia, Korea and Panama, the continued lack of progress in the WTO’s Doha Round and growing protectionist sentiment in many key markets, a USCIB task force is developing broad yet detailed recommendations for the United States and other governments on what is needed to spur greater liberalization of trade and investment. The recommendations are expected to be completed in February.

The committee held a discussion with Everett Eissenstat, trade counsel with the Senate Finance Committee, covering a wide range of trade issues including the recent APEC summit, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Russia’s accession to the WTO, Customs reauthorization, Trade Promotion Authority, Doha and other trade priorities for 2012.

In addition, the committee reviewed plans for a possible USCIB study of global production networks and their impact on U.S. competitiveness. Members also heard an update on USCIB’s work USCIB on investment issues, especially state-owned enterprises and competitive neutrality.

Staff contact: Rob Mulligan

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Business Urges Vigilance on Postal Authorities

Published on December 4, 2011

To address these concerns, last month USCIB and three other business groups sent a letter to the Obama Administration urging the U.S. to prepare diligently for the next ministerial-level congress of the Universal Postal Union (UPU), which will take place in Qatar in September 2012.

“We see potentially important issues on the table at the UPU session, including unhelpful efforts from some quarters to extend the scope of government-run postal monopolies into new areas, potentially competing with the private sector,” stated Shaun Donnelly, USCIB’s vice president for investment and financial services. “Package delivery, insurance, financial services and retail are just some of the sectors where postal monopolies might try to encroach in an effort to offset shrinking volumes and financial losses in their postal services.”

The business groups urged the administration to form an interagency committee to develop coordinated pro-market, pro-competition positions for the U.S. delegation leading up to and at the UPU congress. They also recommend that the State Department, Postal Service and the U.S. interagency team work closely with relevant private-sector entities throughout this preparatory period.

Other groups signing the letter with USCIB were the American Council of Life Insurers, Coalition of Service Industries and U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Staff contact: Shaun Donnelly

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World Business Responds to Cannes G20 Summit Outcome

Published on November 7, 2011

ICC Chairman Gerard Worms (at right, with microphone) speaks at the B20 Summit in Cannes.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the world business organization which USCIB represents in the United States, is urging G20 governments to put trade and investment at the heart of their Action Plan for Growth and Jobs in response to the outcomes of the Cannes G20 Summit.

“Trade has lifted millions out of poverty over the past 60 years by stimulating economic growth and job creation,” said ICC Chairman Gerard Worms. “At a time when governments are grappling with excessive debt, a new approach to trade negotiations can be a cost-free stimulus to growth and job creation.”

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimates that for every 10 percent of trade that opens among G20 countries, around one million jobs are created.

ICC was encouraged by the G20’s recognition of “the merits of the multilateral trading system,” and its reaffirmation of its commitments to the Doha Development Agenda mandate and to avoid introducing new protectionist measures. G20 leaders acknowledged the current stalemate in multilateral trade negotiations and that the Doha Round would not be concluded under current negotiating rules.

The G20 recognized the need to “pursue in 2012 fresh credible approaches to furthering negotiations” and it “directed its ministers to work on such new approaches” at the upcoming ministerial conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in December in Geneva. It also encouraged the ministers to “engage into discussions on the challenges and opportunities to the multilateral trading system in a globalized economy” and to report back at the next G20 Summit in June 2012 in Los Cabos, Mexico.

ICC Concludes Successful B20 in Cannes

Published on November 4, 2011

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), along with its partners including MEDEF (French business confederation) and the World Economic Forum (WEF), yesterday concluded an intensive two days of meetings in Cannes, France, for the G20 Business Summit (B20).

B20 CEOs, including the 20 members of ICC’s G20 Advisory Group, presented policy recommendations to G20 heads of state participating in the business summit. The policy recommendations were the product of a collaboration between the B20 working groups and those of WEF and ICC. The priorities shared with G20 leaders covered subjects including: trade and investment, financial regulation, commodities and raw materials, food security and global economic policy imperatives.

USCIB Chairman Harold McGraw III, CEO of The McGraw-Hill Companies and also vice chairman of ICC, took part in the G20 Business Summit. The B20 Summit proceedings began with a briefing for participating CEOs hosted by French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysee Palace in Paris, and then continued with a series of roundtable meetings between the business and government leaders gathered in Cannes.

“Business leaders have come together to share policy priorities and to emphasize that G20 deliberations must be aligned with core business goals of open trade and investment, economic growth and job creation,” said ICC Chairman Gerard Worms. “We are responsible for ensuring that the voice of world business is heard.”

Among the G20 leaders participating in the B20 Summit were Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, South Korean President Myung-Bak Lee, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, South African President Jacob Zuma, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Russian Federation President Dimitri Medvedev.