Advancing a Positive Transatlantic and Multilateral Trade Agenda
On January 8–10, the European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström visited Washington, DC for trade talks with the U.S. and Japan. She ended her trip by presenting her vision on trade trends 2019 and the reform of the multilateral trading system at the Atlantic Council.
EU-U.S. Trade: Delivering on the EU-U.S. Joint Statement from July 2018
Commissioner Malmström’s visit to the U.S. took place in the context of the Executive Working Group set up by U.S. President Donald J. Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to implement the positive transatlantic trade agenda agreed upon in the EU-US Joint statement from July 2018.
Following her meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, in which they took stock of the work done so far, Commissioner Malmström announced that the European Commission would soon propose draft negotiating mandates to Member States on a conformity assessment agreement and a trade agreement with the United States to remove tariffs on industrial goods.
Commissioner Malmström also expressed confidence that the U.S. would not set up tariffs on car imports from the EU, as agreed in the Joint Statement.
She also confirmed that the EU would not agree to include agriculture in trade talks with the U.S., and indicated that the U.S. did not want to discuss public procurement and geographical indications.
The European Union has also delivered on several of its commitments listed in the Joint Statement, including by increasing its imports of U.S. soybeans by 112% (see here) and taking measures to increase its imports of U.S. liquefied natural gas (see here).
Commissioner Malmström also met with the Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin and Members of the Congress during her visit.
Learn more on the EU-U.S. trade and investment partnership consulting EUintheUS infographics.
EU-U.S.-Japan Trilateral: Addressing Unfair Trade Practices
While in Washington, Commissioner Malmström also chaired the fifth ministerial level trilateral meeting between the EU, the U.S. and Japan which took place at the EU delegation to the U.S. to discuss cooperation on global issues such as trade-distorting practices.
A joint statement was issued at the end of the meeting, in which parties “advanced discussions on their shared objective to address non market-oriented policies and practices of third countries that lead to severe overcapacity, create unfair competitive conditions for their workers and businesses, hinder the development and use of innovative technologies, and undermine the proper functioning of international trade, including where existing rules are not effective.”
Repairing and Standing up for the Multilateral Trading System
Commissioner Malmström ended her visit to Washington, DC with a public talk at the Atlantic Council on “Trade Trends 2019.” In her speech, she acknowledged that “we had moved from a period of hopeful optimism about the benefits of international economic integration to suspicion and distrust. Globalization comes with many opportunities, but it has also transformed our economies in ways that were hard to predict.” So how can the EU and the U.S. respond to that?
Malmström stated that “we need to engage with globalization by building on existing institutions in order not to start from scratch. The World Trade Organization (WTO) needs to be modernized and the WTO rulebook updated, in particular to address unfair trading practices by China.” She pointed out that “the U.S. is currently trying to tackle these issues through unilateral action while we believe that only multilateral solutions can provide a sustainable response.” She added that “international trade without the WTO would be anarchic.”
And the EU has concrete proposals to take this reform agenda forward. The European Commissioner explained that the EU had come up with a plan to “revive the WTO”, which seeks to save its Appellate Body, update its rulebook, and strengthen its processes. She concluded that she was hoping that the U.S. would back up this plan: “The U.S. and the EU now have the opportunity to cooperate once again, as we did after World War II, to shape the global order in the coming century.”
More on the visit:
- Photo and video coverage of the visit
- Speech of European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström at the Atlantic Council (10 January 2019)
- Video of the event with European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström at the Atlantic Council (10 January 2019)
