(Sandler and Travis)
U.S. and European Union (EU) trade officials who were in Davos, Switzerland, last week for the annual World Economic Forum meetings indicated that the two sides remain interested in lowering transatlantic trade
barriers. The comments appeared aimed in part at reassuring the business community that a recent series of high-profile disputes will not pose a serious threat to two-way trade, which is valued at more than $1 billion a
day.
In December 2004, the Transatlantic Business Dialogue (TABD) outlined a number of actions that it said could help the US and EU to "move the transatlantic economy closer to its goal of a Barrier-Free
Transatlantic Market (BFTM)." This concept was first raised at the June 2004 U.S.-EU summit, and the TABD is urging the two governments to take "substantial, transforming action" in order to "make
concrete progress toward achieving a BFTM." For example, the TABD recommended that one of the primary outcomes of the annual bilateral summits should be "a rolling BFTM program setting annual objectives,
identifying the mechanisms and allocating the tasks for their achievement."
This program should focus on regulatory cooperation, balancing security and trade facilitation, economic growth and innovation,
integrating financial markets, and cooperation in developing the global trading system.
U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Grant Aldonas said on January 27 that the Bush Administration
strongly supports the BFTM proposal. "We will continue the momentum in 2005," he said, "with more intensified dialogues between business and the public sector that will lead to greater cooperation,
consensus, and concrete action in the TABD recommendation areas."
In a speech to the TABD the same day, EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said that expanded regulatory cooperation will continue to be a
major agenda item. He noted that this issue has taken on such a high priority in part because other issues that might typically come up in a trade liberalization context are of lesser importance in this case. For
example, there has been little pressure from the business community to further lower tariffs, largely because they are generally low already and virtually everyone agrees that the best way to pursue further reductions
is through the Doha Round rather than a bilateral initiative. More "far-reaching and comprehensive proposals" such as a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA), trade and investment agreement, or common economic
area have also been given relatively little attention.
Another area that Mandelson highlighted is the effect of the growing number of cargo security initiatives "I think we could and should seek the least
impact possible on trade in areas such as visas, container tracking devices, export controls on dual use goods, customs procedures or trade facilitation," he said. "Again, this may mean harmonization in some
areas, such as common or international security standards. Europe has to be ready to work with the U.S. on ensuring security against the grave threat of terrorism, but the U.S. can and should work more closely with us
to ensure trade continues to flow freely." |
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