Trade and Investment Archives

USCIB Weighs in With Administration on Trade Deficits

Published on May 15, 2017

With the Trump administration seeking to reorient U.S. trade policy toward bilateral agreements, bilateral trade deficits have been put forward as a marker of the health — or lack thereof — of U.S. commercial relations with a given country. USCIB has taken up this issue in a recent statement to the Department of Commerce.

In its statement, USCIB said: “On the specific issue of trade deficits, particularly bilateral deficits (or surpluses) with individual countries, USCIB supports the view of most mainstream economists, who are convinced that trade deficits are a product of broader macroeconomic factors, not trade policy, and that the trade balance should not be viewed as a straightforward indicator of a country’s economic health. While it is useful to address trade barriers that impede access for U.S. goods and services exporters to specific markets, we should not set up bilateral trade balances as the metric of successful trade policies.”

Furthermore, the USCIB statement argued for greater attention to trade in services, not just goods, in any analysis of trade balances. “In the United States, services account for almost 80% of GDP, and services jobs account for more than 80% of private sector employment,” USCIB said. “Accordingly, a trade policy focused solely on trade deficits in manufacturing is misleading.”

The Commerce Department is expected to hold hearings on trade deficits later this week.

Shiles Joins USCIB as Head of ATA Carnet and Trade Services

Published on May 15, 2017
Andrew Shiles

New York, N.Y., May 16, 2017 – Former FedEx executive and cargo industry veteran Andrew Shiles has joined the United States Council for International Business (USCIB) to lead the association’s dynamic portfolio of trade services, including the “merchandise passports” used by thousands of exporters around the world to get goods through customs quickly and easily.

As senior vice president of ATA Carnet and trade services, Shiles will work to expand U.S. trade interests through promotion of the ATA Carnet program. ATA Carnets are internationally recognized customs documents that permit temporary duty-free, tax-free entry of qualified goods for up to one year. They are used widely to facilitate entry of goods for trade shows, product samples and professional equipment.

“Andy Shiles brings extensive experience to this position,” said USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson. “He has in-depth knowledge of trade and customs affairs, including ATA Carnet, and relationships with clients ranging from multinational corporations to SMEs to freight forwarders. In addition, Andy has strong connections with U.S. Customs, and has engaged in a number of important industry trade associations.”

USCIB manages and guarantees the ATA Carnet system in the United States, with responsibility for issuing ATA Carnets falling to two outside service providers, Roanoke Trade and the Corporation for International Business. ATA Carnets are accepted in 84 countries and territories, while the global ATA systems is overseen by the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). USCIB serves as ICC’s American national committee.

Shiles comes to USCIB following more than 30 years at FedEx Express, the world’s largest air express cargo company, most recently as global regulatory compliance manager, where he served on USCIB’s Customs and Trade Facilitation Committee. His leadership experience in global supply-chain management includes participation in U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Simplified Entry Working Group, which redesigned and implemented the current entry-clearance process into the United States.

Shiles also has extensive experience working with multiple government agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration, Department of Agriculture and Consumer Product Safety Commission. A self-professed “Yankee with a Southern accent,” Shiles was born in Manhattan and raised in the Southwest and in Tennessee, where he received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Memphis. He is a member of the International Compliance Professionals Association and the American Association of Exporters and Importers.

Find out more about the services offered by USCIB to facilitate cross-border trade and investment at www.uscib.org.

Contact:
Jonathan Huneke, VP communications, USCIB
+1 212.703.5043 or jhuneke@uscib.org

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. With a unique global network encompassing leading international business organizations, including ICC, USCIB provides business views to policy makers and regulatory authorities worldwide, and works to facilitate international trade and investment.

Donnelly Talks Trade, Investment at ACFR Annual Conference

Published on May 9, 2017

USCIB Vice President for Investment Policy Shaun Donnelly was the closing keynote speaker at the American Committees on Foreign Relations (ACFR)  22nd annual conference in Washington, April 28. The overall conference theme this year was “Commerce, Investment and Trade: American Prosperity in an Uncertain World.”

Donnelly’s remarks focused on the trade and investment policy opportunities and challenges confronting the new Administration. In a lively question and answer session, Donnelly offered perspectives on issues from NAFTA renegotiation, trade deficits, competition from China to promoting American innovation. ACFR is an association of local foreign policy programming and discussion groups in thirteen major cities around the country.

“It’s encouraging to see a mainline foreign policy group such as ACFR focusing increasingly on economic, trade, and competitiveness,” said Donnelly. “As former Secretary of State John Kerry always said, economic policy is foreign policy and foreign policy is economic policy.”

B20 Summit Attendees Reaffirm Commitment to Open Trade

Published on May 1, 2017
B20 Chair Jürgen Heraeus hands over the B20 Policy Recommendations to German Chancellor Merkel at the B20 Summit in Berlin

The two-day B20 Summit took place on May 2-3 in Berlin, Germany with the theme “Resilience, Responsibility, Responsiveness – Towards a Future-oriented, Sustainable World Economy.” Approximately 700 representatives from the B20 met for the final summit of the German B20 Presidency. USCIB’s President and CEO Peter M. Robinson was among them in his capacity as Co-Chair of the B20 Employment and Education Taskforce.

Among the many meetings that took place during the summit was an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) G20 CEO Advisory Group that was facilitated by ICC Germany.  The meeting was chaired by ICC Secretary General John Danilovich.  ICC First Vice-Chairman John Denton also participated in the meeting, which brought together Group members at both Deputy and CEO levels, together with representatives from ICC Argentina, ICC Germany, ICC United Kingdom, and USCIB’s Robinson.

The meeting of the ICC Group was able to benefit from the participation of B20 Germany Sherpa Stormy-Annika Mildner. Mildner provided a detailed briefing of latest B20 activities and lessons learned thanking ICC for its sustained and substantive participation in the B20 task forces and working groups, and said that the summary of B20 recommendations would be presented to Chancellor Angela Merkel and sent to B20 members.  She explained the G20/B20 “compact with Africa” initiative – a partnership between the B20/G20 and 5 African countries (the Ivory Coast, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal and Tunisia) to improve sustainable private sector development in African countries.

ICC Argentina Chairman Victor Dosoretz gave an update on preparations for the G20/B20 under Argentine presidency in 2018.  He explained that the six main business associations in Argentina – which were all part of ICC Argentina – would work together in an organizing committee for the B20.  Union Industrial Argentina Vice President Daniel Funes de Rioja, outgoing chairman of the International Organization of Employers, had been appointed as B20 Chairman by the Argentine government.  The B20 sherpa had not yet been selected.

The B20 Summit officially got underway with remarks by B20 Chairman Jurgen Heraeus who emphasized that the B20 managed to craft consensual positions on all major issues.  The B20 was united in its belief that trade increases prosperity worldwide, that protectionist policies are misguided and that policies are needed to help people who felt left behind by trade and technological change.

The B20 Task Force on Employment and Education, which is co-chaired by Robinson and which makes recommendations to the G20, promotes open, dynamic and inclusive labor markets, harnessing the potential of technological change through better education and training, and creating a global level playing field and promotion of fair competition for globally operating companies. The task force’s leaders recognize the need to address unemployment, raise labor force participation, improve education and work-force qualification and create framework conditions for quality jobs to ensure sustainable economic and financial development.

“With a high level of unemployment globally, employment and education have become core topics of the G20 and the B20,” said Robinson. “To address employment and training gaps, we [the B20 Employment and Education Taskforce] released a series of recommendations on investing in skills development, implementing commitments such as the ILO G20 training strategy and using technology as a complementary tool to improve access and adaption.” The B20 Taskforce on Employment and Education policy paper can be viewed here.

The G20 Summit will take place from July 7-8 in Hamburg, Germany.

OECD Organizes Industry Meeting Ahead of June Ministerial

Published on May 1, 2017

Ahead of June’s OECD Ministerial, Denmark, which holds the OECD presidency this year, organized a joint Business at OECD (BIAC) and the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC) consultation in Copenhagen with OECD member governments. USCIB’s President and CEO Peter Robinson gave remarks at the consultation on the importance of improving openness and competitiveness of economies as well as helping more people and companies of all sizes to participate.

“We are living through a period of rapidly changing technologies and economic policies, especially regarding cross-border trade and investment,” said Robinson. “Economic nationalism and isolationist sentiment are posing challenges to the OECD’s fundamental orientation of greater openness and cooperation. The economic context should focus minds – without a comprehensive competitiveness agenda for OECD countries, there will be less wealth creation and less room to increase living standards.”

Robinson recommended a regular publication of the Better Business Index to help governments understand and improve the key drivers of private sector growth. “We think this is vital so as not to lose sight of – or take for granted – the role of the private sector in creating wealth,” he said. Robinson emphasized the importance of developing a new OECD Strategy for SMEs and sensible policies to ensure sustainable growth of the digital economy.

The OECD meetings took place on the eve of the B20 Summit in Berlin.

OECD Secretary General Briefs USCIB Members as World Bank/IMF Meetings Get Underway

Published on April 24, 2017
L-R: USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson, OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria, BIAC Vice Chair Rick Johnston (Citi), Rob Mulligan (USCIB), Susan Fridy (OECD)
L-R: USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson, OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria, BIAC Vice Chair Rick Johnston (Citi), Rob Mulligan (USCIB), Susan Fridy (OECD)

With the spring meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund bring finance ministers and other top officials from around the world to Washington, D.C., USCIB members on April 21 met with OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria at Citi’s offices in the capital.

The wide-ranging, off-the-record discussion covered priorities for the OECD as well as the G-20, for which the OECD has undertaken a variety of high-level projects since the 2008-2009 financial crisis. In the face of the ongoing populist backlash, Gurria reiterated the OECD’s fundamental support for open markets, as well as for policies to address the downside of global integration and technological change.

Gurria also looked forward to this year’s OECD Ministerial in June. Next week in Copenhagen, USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson and other members of Business at OECD (BIAC) will present their recommendations to OECD governments in advance of the ministerial.

Key topics at this year’s OECD ministerial are expected to include the digital economy, inclusive growth, migration, aging societies and the general backlash against globalization.

Gurria, who prior to becoming secretary general of the OECD served as foreign affairs and finance minister in the Mexican government, and who helped negotiate several market-opening trade deals with the United States and other nations, was honored earlier in the week by the Economic Club of Minnesota for his longstanding support of open trade. Click here to read his remarks at the event.

BIAC Releases Trade as a Priority for All Paper

Published on April 24, 2017

BIAC_Trade_Priorities_PaperAs populist discontent with international trade continues to percolate around the world, Business at OECD (BIAC) today unveiled a new paper, “Trade as a Priority for All,” with recommendations for OECD action to help build renewed support for cross-border trade.

Last December, Business at OECD convened a workshop of heads of communications from its member federations around the world, to consider ways to push back against the populist narrative. It consulted with its global membership, a network of over 2,800 business experts, and identified critical trade barriers and opportunities. The paper makes recommendations to the OECD and its member governments on the role they can play in curbing barriers and enabling opportunities.

The paper also provides a better understanding of the way companies do business, shedding light on the hurdles they face at the border and in the global marketplace and provides recommendations on improving policymaking and creating better conditions for private sector-led growth, innovation and job creation.

“This paper is crucial in conveying priorities of the business community for OECD analysis and policy recommendations, especially given the rise in anti-trade rhetoric globally,” said Rob Mulligan, USCIB’s senior vice president for policy and government affairs, who is attending consultations with the OECD Trade Committee as well as an OECD conference on trade communications this week in Paris. “USCIB supports the recommendations in this paper, including those of eliminating localization requirements, ensuring open cross-border data flows and improving international regulatory cooperation.”

International Business Spring 2017 Issue

Published on April 17, 2017

IB_Spring2017USCIB’s “International Business” Spring 2017 issue is now live! A web version can be accessed here.

The Spring 2017 issue features USCIB President and CEO Peter M. Robinson‘s column on “American Competitiveness and Innovation in the 21st Century” as well as articles on developments in the G20, WTO and the UN climate talks, plus news from our global network–Business at OECD, the International Organization of Employers and the International Chamber of Commerce.

“International Business,” USCIB’s quarterly journal, provides essential insight into major trade and investment topics, a high-level overview of USCIB policy advocacy and services, USCIB member news and updates from our global business network.

Subscribe to USCIB’s International Business Magazine

Subscriptions to “International Business” are available free upon request to representatives of USCIB member organizations. Contact us to subscribe.

Non-members may subscribe to “International Business” and other USCIB print publications at an annual rate of $50 (U.S.) for domestic delivery, or $75 for overseas delivery. Contact us to subscribe. USCIB’s annual report, studies from the United States Council Foundation and related publications are included with your paid subscription.

Our free electronic newsletter, “International Business Weekly,” provides regular updates on USCIB’s major activities and priorities. Click here to view a sample issue. Click here to subscribe.

We welcome outside submissions and inquiries regarding our publications – send them to news@uscib.org.

We welcome advertising in International Business magazine — special discounted rates for USCIB member organizations! Contact Kira Yevtukhova (kyevtukhova@uscib.org) for more information.

 

Robinson Writes Commentary to Adam Smith Project on Trump Priorities

Published on April 10, 2017

OECDweek_PMRUSCIB President and CEO Peter M. Robinson recently contributed commentary to the Adam Smith Project on what he believes should be priority issues for the Trump Administration. Priorities should include balancing globalization challenges with the values of economic openness and dynamism for Americans, growing the economy, maintaining American leadership in the world, and ensuring transparency and accountability in international institutions, such as the United Nations.

“Our nation’s continued prosperity and security demand that the United States remain engaged internationally on a range of key issues, including cross-border trade and investment, climate change, sustainability and support for a rules-based global economy,” writes Robinson.

The full commentary is available on the Adam Smith Project website, subscription is required.

 

Mulligan to Speak on Brexit Panel on Impact to US Business

Published on April 7, 2017

LondonWith the government of UK Prime Minister Theresa May having recently delivered formal notice of the country’s intention to leave the European Union, attention is turning to the practical implications of Brexit for business. USCIB Senior Vice President for Government Affairs and Public Policy Rob Mulligan will speak on a panel at a two-day conference on “The impact of Brexit on U.S. Business” on May 30-31 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Mulligan will speak on a panel titled “Market Access and Trade: Opportunities and Challenges for U.S. Business invested in the UK and EU.”

Mulligan recently represented USCIB at meetings related to Brexit with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the British government on March 23 in London. The meeting was organized by the International Chamber of Commerce’s Trade and Investment Commission and focused on a wide range of global trade issues.  In discussing the implications of Brexit at this meeting, Mulligan also raised business concerns related to trade, noting that “companies need sufficient transition times coming out of Brexit to address any changes related to customs, value chains, and regulatory requirements.” See the full story here.

USCIB members receive a $200 discount on registration for “The impact of Brexit on U.S. Business” conference when using the discount code USCIB, and the conference organizers have agreed to extend the Super Early Bird Rate until Friday, April 14. When used with the USCIB discount code, USCIB members will receive $600 off the normal registration price. You can register for the conference here. USCIB has partnered with The Forum Companies for this conference. The full agenda can be found here.