EU, US Trade Chiefs Press for TTIP Advances Despite Election, Brexit Dynamic

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International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development Mar 29, 2016

Clinching an ambitious bilateral trade and investment pact in the near term remains a key strategic and economic priority, said the US’ and EU’s top trade officials last week, while acknowledging the ongoing uncertainty that surrounds such efforts given the American presidential election debate on the merits of trade deals and the impending “Brexit” referendum in the UK.

Speaking at the German Marshall Fund’s Brussels Forum on 18 March, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström and US Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman both touted the advances that have been made in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) talks to date, which were launched in 2013.

“We’ve come a long way in the negotiations,” the EU trade chief confirmed on Friday, while noting that all elements of the talks are linked.

The two also discussed, however, the difficulties ahead in building public support domestically for this trade pact – among others – on their respective sides of the Atlantic.

The US presidential election, for example, has drawn harsh scrutiny toward trade deals and while these questions have primarily focused on a separate US trade pact in the Pacific, some trade watchers worry that the increasingly polarised discussion could have the ramifications for the North American country’s other trade objectives.

Defending the potential gains from TTIP, “we see [the planned agreement] as an important element of a growth strategy for both of us,” said Froman, arguing that the deal would be key to raising competitiveness and also promote shared values.

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