Trade and Investment Archives

Broad-Based Business Coalition to Press for USMCA Adoption

Published on February 26, 2019

Washington, D.C., February 26, 2019 – The United States Council for International Business (USCIB), which represents America’s most successful global companies, has joined with an array of U.S. companies and industry associations to urge swift approval by Congress of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), an updated and modernized framework for expanded trade, investment and market integration in North America.

The USMCA Coalition, encompassing more than 200 leading companies and major associations representing farmers and ranchers, manufacturers, service providers and technology companies, was formally launched today. Click here to read the coalition’s statement on the launch.

“USCIB is proud to count itself among the many vocal American business supporters of the USMCA,” said USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson. “The success of our economy depends upon a reliable framework for cross-border trade and investment among our three integrated economies, and the USCMA makes important improvements over the earlier NAFTA framework. We intend to press for speedy approval on Capitol Hill.”

Robinson added that USCIB would also work closely with its counterpart organizations in Canada and Mexico, as well as with its global business network, to advance the USMCA as well as open, rules-based trade and investment regimes more broadly.

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, generating $5 trillion in annual revenues and employing over 11 million people worldwide. As the U.S. affiliate of the International Chamber of Commerce, the International Organization of Employers and Business at OECD, 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

 

CEO of ICC Finland Talks US-Europe With USCIB Washington Team

Published on February 20, 2019
L-R: Meghan Giblin, Barbara Wanner, Eva Hampl, Timo Vuori, Rob Mulligan, and Shaun Donnelly

ICC Finland’s Executive Director/CEO and Executive Vice President of the Finland Chamber of Commerce Timo Vuori met with USCIB Senior Vice President for Policy and Government Affairs Rob Mulligan and key staff members of USCIB’s Washington office on February 13.  Vuori, a longtime and influential ICC insider and a good friend of USCIB, is also a key board member of the influential “Eurochambres” continental business leadership group.

The wide-ranging discussion with USCIB staff touched on the challenging U.S.-European Union trade agenda including “232” steel and aluminum tariffs, possibly to be expanded to the automotive sector, as well as digital economy, data and tax issues, and the prospects for some sort of U.S.-EU trade negotiations. The underlying political developments on both sides of the Atlantic, including the Brexit developments were also of interest to all. The group discussed the global trade issues including China and WTO reform while touching on challenges in global customs, regulatory and investment policies. The group compared notes on developments inside the global ICC network and possibilities for promoting U.S.-Finnish trade and investment relationships.

“As usual, our USCIB assessments, priorities and concerns often closely aligned with Timo’s,” noted USCIB Vice President Shaun Donnelly.  “We very much value our close relationships with key partners in USCIB’s unique global network. ICC Finland has long been one of our closest and most reliable partners.  It was a great meeting and we very much appreciate Timo making time to meet with us.”

Vuori was in Washington as part of a Finnish business delegation to meet with the Hill, U.S. agencies and U.S. businesses like USCIB. Vuori also attended an Embassy of Finland dinner, along with USCIB Senior Director Eva Hampl. The theme of the February 12th dinner was “Competitiveness in a Globalized World” and provided an opportunity for a discussion on the impact that trade policies, global companies, technological revolution and politics have on competitiveness. The event was organized on the occasion of the Finnish Minister for Foreign Trade Anne-Mari Virolainen‘s visit to Washington DC.

USCIB Anti-Illicit Trade (AIT) Committee Meeting

The USCIB Anti-Illicit Trade (AIT) Committee meeting will be held Thursday, February 21, 2019, from 2 – 3:30 PM at USCIB offices.

Please RSVP to Ashley Harrington at aharrington@uscib.org.

At this time, we are tentatively going to have a USG speaker for the first part of the meeting. The rest of the meeting will be dedicated to the OECD March Task Force meeting as well as review of draft USCIB statement for the March Task Force meeting.

USCIB Geneva Week-Business in Society: Shared Values

USCIB will hold its second annual Geneva Week trip for members and prospects May 6-10, 2019 under the theme: “Business in Society: Shared Values.” 

USCIB is pleased to announce that meetings with the following organizations are now confirmed: U.S. Mission, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). Additional meetings will be confirmed in the coming weeks. Please check this page for updates.

The purpose of Geneva Week is to generate valuable conversations and connections between the U.S. business community and UN Agencies, Missions to the UN-Geneva, and other important Permanent Representatives in Geneva. It is a week-long opportunity to:

  • highlight your company’s work and policy priorities in the areas of health care, intellectual property, nutrition and sustainability;
  • demonstrate business’ commitment and contributions towards shared goals; and
  • raise any key concerns you may have regarding the intersection of international policy making and global business.

USCIB’s targets for interactions include senior management from several Geneva-based UN Agencies and Permanent Missions, including:

Agencies Include:

  • The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
  • The World Health Organization (WHO)
  • UN Environment’s Chemicals and Wastes division

Missions Include:

  • U.S. Mission to the UN
  • Australian Mission to the UN
  • Brazilian Mission to the UN
  • Canadian Mission to the UN
  • EU Mission to the UN
  • Japanese Mission to the UN
  • UK Mission to the UN

Our desired outcome from the week is to build and strengthen relationships in support of continued and ongoing communication between Geneva-based institutions and the business community, as well as to ensure that UN Agencies and Missions clearly understand:

  • Our shared values – how and where the synergies and areas of cooperation exist between business and multi-lateral institutions – and
  • Our concerns regarding business access and business’ license to operate

Participation in USCIB’s Geneva Week is by invitation only, and costs a fee of $750.00. As spaces are limited, please contact Mia Lauter (mlauter@uscib.org) to RSVP or to receive more information.

USCIB Participates in Business Coalition Fly-in on China Tariffs  

Published on February 11, 2019

USCIB Senior Director Eva Hampl participated in the Fly-In organized by Tariffs Hurt the Heartland the nationwide campaign against tariffs, combining the efforts of Farmers for Free Trade and Americans for Free Trade, of which USCIB is a member. Groups of representatives from associations and companies covered over 150 meetings with Senate and House offices from both sides of the aisle over February 6-7.

“There is general concern about the tariff actions, with many members of Congress having signed on to letters either on the section 232 tariffs or on the section 301 exclusion process,” stated Hampl. “However, there is also still a lot of apprehension about publicly pushing back against the President’s actions on tariffs. To those who expressed a desire to wait and see what happens on March 1 – the deadline for reaching a deal with China, to prevent tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports increasing from 10% to 25% — we repeatedly made the point that the time to act is now, as the damage to US industry and consumers increases with every day these tariffs are in place.”

To underline these points, a new study launched showed that in the event that tariffs of 25% go into effect on March 2 on List 3, combined with various other tariffs and retaliation already in place, the net impact on U.S. jobs will be over 900,000 and the annual impact on a family of four over $750. For the complete study, please click here.

There are two pieces of legislation that were introduced in in the Senate the week of February 4, both of which have House companion bills: (1) the Bicameral Congressional Trade Authority Act and (2) the Trade Security Act. Both attempt to push back against the President’s authority on tariff actions.

United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin will travel to Beijing for principal-level meetings on February 14 and 15, and these meetings will be preceded by deputy-level negotiations beginning on Monday, February 11.

 

Tariffs Hurt the Heartland Group Warns of Impacts on Economy

Published on February 6, 2019

USCIB Senior Director Eva Hampl will be taking part in a “Tariffs Hurt the Heartland” fly-in on Capitol Hill February 6-7. This fly-in is organized by a broad coalition of business groups that warned about the detrimental impacts of tariffs on Chinese imports on the U.S. economy in a recent press release. Tariffs Hurt the Heartland is the nationwide, non-partisan campaign opposing tariffs that is supported by over 150 trade associations from every industry, including USCIB.

The press release emphasized that new auto tariffs and tariffs on all Chinese imports would lead to 2.2 million job losses, cost the average family over $2,300 and reduce GDP by over 1%. Moreover American workers will lose nearly one million U.S. jobs if tariffs rise to 25 percent on March 1.

The report, which served as the basis for the press release, was prepared by Trade Partnership Worldwide LLC.

USCIB Releases 2019 Trade and Investment Priorities

Published on February 5, 2019

USCIB has published its 2019 Trade and Investment Agenda. The Agenda is a result of an intensive consultation process with USCIB members to identify key member priorities for 2019. Per member input, many key principles developed for 2018 remain relevant for this year, though the changing trade and investment landscape has also raised new priorities for 2019.

The annual action plan anticipates a potentially busy year on trade and investment including: pressing for congressional approval of USMCA in 2019, seeking Administration action to resolve differences with China, movement on trade negotiations with Japan, EU and the UK, supporting negotiations in the WTO on a digital trade agreement, and modernizing the WTO,” said USCIB Senior Vice President for Policy and Government Affairs Rob Mulligan. “We look forward to a busy and productive year opening international markets and strengthening the global rules-based trade and investment framework.”

The 2019 Agenda will be shared with key U.S. government policymakers.

Hampl Gives Testimony on US-UK Trade Agreement

Published on January 29, 2019
Eva Hampl provided testimony before the Trade Policy Staff Committee, chaired by USTR, on January 29.
USCIB supports negotiation of a comprehensive trade agreement with the UK as part of a broader strategy to open international markets for U.S. companies and remove barriers and unfair trade practices in support of U.S. jobs.

 

Following USCIB’s submission on January 16 to USTR regarding negotiating objectives for a U.S.-UK Trade Agreement, USCIB Senior Director for Investment, Trade and Financial Services Eva Hampl provided testimony before the Trade Policy Staff Committee, chaired by USTR, on January 29.

“USCIB supports negotiation of a comprehensive trade agreement with the UK as part of a broader strategy to open international markets for U.S. companies and remove barriers and unfair trade practices in support of U.S. jobs,” said Hampl in her testimony. “We strongly believe that continued U.S.-UK free trade is overwhelmingly in the interests of both countries and their global trading partners, provided that the agreement is a high standard and comprehensive bilateral trade and investment agreement. A successful trade agreement with the UK should cover not just market access for goods, but also address important services issues.”

Hampl’s testimony also emphasized the importance of regulatory cohesion across the United States, the UK and the European market as a key component in further liberalizing trade. Regulatory discrimination and differentiation between trade partners can be an obstacle to trade, investment and the ability to conduct business. Affected sectors include pharmaceuticals, chemicals and fintech.

Hampl also raised the issue of digital trade. “U.S. companies rely on cross-border data flows as part of their day-to-day operations,” said Hampl. “A U.S.-UK agreement should include requirements that data can flow unimpeded across borders except for limited and well-defined public policy exceptions, ensuring that they are not used as disguised barriers to trade.”

Regarding intellectual property (IP) protection, Hampl noted that at a minimum, a U.S.-UK agreement should enshrine existing protections and enforcement mechanisms. It should also address sectoral IP issues, such as in the pharmaceutical space.

To read Hampl’s testimony, please click here.

USCIB Urges Removal of Steel and Aluminum Tariffs in USMCA

Published on January 23, 2019

USCIB joined a coalition of other trade and industry organizations to send a letter to Secretary Wilbur Ross and Ambassador Robert Lighthizer on January 23 regarding the 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum.

“The coalition, recognizing the importance of the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement ratification to the economic interests of all three countries, underscored the importance of lifting these tariffs, as well as the removal of all retaliatory tariffs on trade among the three countries,” stated Eva Hampl, senior director for investment, trade and financial services.

“For many farmers, ranchers and manufacturers, the damage from the reciprocal trade actions in the steel dispute far outweighs any benefit that may accrue to them from the USMCA,” stated the letter. “The continued application of metal tariffs means ongoing economic hardship for U.S. companies that depend on imported steel and aluminum, but that are not exempted from these tariffs. Producers of agricultural and manufactured products that are highly dependent on the Canadian and Mexican markets are also suffering serious financial losses.”