ead The Economist's articles, "Obama to raise trade talk concerns with Merkel."
Do you think the reduction or elimination of tariffs and notariff barriers between the U.S. and the EU through the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership will increase demand for U.S. goods and services in Europe and make european goods and services cheaper for Americans? In the face of a global recession is it wise for nations to begin raising tariffs and increasing subsidies to domestic producers? Why or why not?
Each student replies to instructorâs initial discussion question with a substantive post (minimum 250 words). Your initial post as well as a response to two other classmates initial discussion question should be done by 11:59 PM Central Standard Time (CST) - Sunday evening.
February 9, 2015 3:05 am
Obama to raise trade talk concerns with
Merke
l
Shawn Donnan, World Trade Editor
©AFP
US President Barack Obama is expected to raise concerns about the pace of
trans
-
Atlantic trade
talks with Angela Merkel when the German chancellor visits Washington on Monday with US
officials fretting that supposedly reinvigorated negotiations are instead getting off to a false start.
Following the November appointment of Cecil
ia Malmstrom, the new European trade
commissioner, both sides pledged a âfresh startâ to talks over a
Trans
-
Atlantic Trade and
Investment Partnership
, or TTIP, that had been crawling along since beginning in July 2013.
But a senior US official told the Financial Times that Washington was disappointed with the
progress made in last weekâs round of formal negotiations, the first since the re
-
launch, and had
decided to press
its case with Ms Merkel on Monday and in European capitals in the coming
weeks.
That frustration was partly in evidence in Brussels last week. âThis weekâs round was
constructive, but we do need to see more, further concrete progress ... if we are to turn
this fresh
start into a reality,â the chief US negotiator, Dan Mullaney, told reporters on Friday as the
discussions wrapped up.
The US has in recent months been pressing the European Union to agree to exchange new offers
on the number of tariff
-
free goods
. Many see this as the easier part of the negotiations compared
with the more complex question of easing regulatory barriers to trade across the Atlantic.
Last year the US offered to eliminate tariffs on 88 per cent of goods traded between the two
economie
s, significantly lower than the 96 per cent put forward by the EU. But since then US
officials have been trying to improve their offer while also extracting more from the EU.
Liberalisation of services is another bone of contention for Washington, which is
irked that the
EU has refused to offer a similar package to that negotiated with Canada in a recently concluded
trade agreement.
The decision to raise the issue with Ms Merkel did not reflect any conflict between the German
chancellor and Mr Obama over TT
IP, the official said. Washington remains convinced she
supports the trans
-
Atlantic talks, in spite of
scepticism
among many Germans.
The concerns were instead focused on EU officials and the European Commission, the senior US
official said, and whether officials in Brussels were meeting their leadersâ desire for
more rapid
progress
. David Cameron, the UKâs prime minister, last year called for ârocket boostersâ to be
placed und
er the talks.
Two senior EU trade officials on Sunday dismissed the US concerns as âspinâ and told the FT
that they hoped to exchange new tariffs and services offers by July.
The EU officials also said that there had been progress in discussions over the i
nclusion of
financial services regulation in TTIP, something the US side has resisted in part because of fears
that it might water down the strict Dodd
-
Franck regulations introduced in the wake of the 2008
crisis.
But the disagreement highlights how tensio
ns remain between both sides despite efforts to make
a fresh start.
European officials have also privately raised concerns that Mr Obamaâs administration is more
focused on sealing a 12
-
country Pacific Rim trade agreement now nearing conclusion, the Trans
-
Pacific Partnership, or TPP, than the trans
-
Atlantic one.
Speaking at a security conference in Munich on Saturday, Vice President Joe Biden sought to
placate the EU. âTTIP is not the stepchild to TPP,â the vice president
said
.
âWe have not taken our focus off of Europe. We have not decide
d that the future lies in the
Pacific Basin. We are a Pacific power. We will assert that power, and we will remain a Pacific
power. But we are also an Atlantic power.â
