Tariffs to be focus of 11th round of talks on EU-US trade deal
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Europe Online | 19 Octobre 2015
Tariffs to be focus of 11th round of talks on EU-US trade deal
The United States and the European Union will seek to make progress on tariffs during the 11th round of negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) starting Monday in Miami.
The tariff negotations were "a very important step," said EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said last week. The upcoming talks were also expected to discuss harmonizing regulations and new rules for public procurement.
Brussels and Washington have been negotiating the trade deal, which would create the world‘s largest free trade area with 800 million people, since 2013. Despite running over the initial schedule, Malmstrom said talks were making progress.
"We have invested so much political and economic capital in this, so neither [of us] want to see it fail," Malmstrom said in an interview with dpa and two other international media outlets.
The two sides wanted to strike a preliminary deal by the end of this year to avoid being impacted by the 2016 US presidential election.
Malmstrom said much now depends on Washington, which will have to determine if "they can conclude it and then leave the ratification for the next administration, or if they feel that this particular element is too sensitive to push through in an electoral year."
She said negotiators "need to get it right." That could mean the deal would be concluded under US President Barack Obama and then "we will have to pause and see what happens with the next administration," she said.
Proponents of TTIP say that it will significantly boost economic growth and jobs. Backers also say it would act as a counterweight to China‘s growing economic power, but critics worry that it would water down consumer protection provisions and allow corporations to block regulations they oppose.
The deal has met resistance particularly in Europe. Almost half of Germans feel the deal is "a bad thing," according to a survey published Friday by TNS Emnid. Only 34 per cent thought it was "a good thing."
An anti-TTIP march in Berlin earlier this month drew 250,000 people, according to organizers.
TTIP has not faced strong opposition in the US, where the spotlight has been on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
Earlier this month 12 Pacific Rim countries reached the TPP trade pact, which will lift most duties on trade and investment, set new business standards and protect intellectual property rights. Negotiations on that deal lasted for five years.
The 11th round of the talks are scheduled to last through Friday.
