Industry Supports Transatlantic Free Trade Agreements

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman visits with stakeholders at the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) direct stakeholder engagement event. Photo credit: Flikr, official USTR photo, Creative Commons license

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman (left) attends a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) event. Photo credit: Flickr, official USTR photo, Creative Commons license

The chemical industry is speaking out in support of two international free trade agreements (FTAs) that could enhance commerce when they come into force.

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The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which Congress and the European Commission are currently negotiating, would facilitate greater U.S.-EU trade by removing tariffs and excessive regulations and coordinating rules for customs and competition.

U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman issued a statement to the House Ways and Means Committee on April 3rd in which he asserted that the proposed U.S.-EU FTA would strengthen American agriculture and manufacturing.

Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates (SOCMA) Vice President of Government and Public Relations Bill Allmond supported Froman’s testimony in a press release on the same day. “Currently, chemical manufacturers in the U.S. are facing challenges in many foreign markets because of costly and burdensome regulatory barriers. A bold trade agenda, like the one highlighted in today’s testimony, will help unleash trade flows between domestic and foreign manufacturers, and will give American businesses strong footing in the global marketplace,” he said.

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The European Crop Protection Association and CropLIfe America (ECPA-CLA) also supports the TTIP and holds the position that it has the potential to enhance cooperation through joint reviews of phytosanitary and other regulations and maximum residue levels based on science and risk assessment and continued protection of intellectual property. The ECPA proposes coordinating U.S. legislation such as the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) with European pesticide and endocrine disruptor legislation including Regulation 1107/2009 based on high-level guidance recommended by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

In addition, the finalized but still-evolving Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) was enacted in October of 2013 and aims to increase bilateral trade. It will grant Canadian exporters preferential access to European markets and eliminate almost all tariffs on primary and manufactured Canadian products entering the EU.

Environmental groups worry that these FTAs might displace current EU chemical legislation titled REACH, which requires chemical companies who wish to export to the EU to comply with strict health and environmental requirements for substance documentation, registration and evaluation.

According to a USTR fact sheet, the TTIP would ideally allow American chemical exporters to enjoy the same duty-free benefits that Chilean, Mexican, South Korean and South African exporters enjoy when shipping industrial products to and within the EU. It states that the U.S. exports more agricultural products than any other country in the world.

The EU is the world’s largest importer of unprocessed bulk agricultural products, notes ECPA-CLA in its position paper.

According to the USTR, while American agricultural exports were worth more than $145 billion in 2013, only $10 billion of that was exported to the EU, and at a much higher tariff rate than European competitors paid.

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