Kirk Says U.S.-EU in Talks on Eliminating Bilateral Tariff Barriers, Etc.
Teams of American and European negotiators are working to examine a wide range of possibilities to boost U.S.-EU trade, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said in a speech May 22 to the London School of Economics. He said they include: eliminating conventional barriers to trade in goods, such as tariffs and tariff-rate quotas; reducing barriers to trade in services, and to transatlantic investment; promoting regulatory approaches that facilitate trade; reducing, eliminating, or preventing in the first place behind-the-border barriers to trade in all categories; and developing rules and principles on other global issues that are of common concern. "We have agreed to be both ambitious and realistic as we establish our negotiating parameters and goals," Kirk said.
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Kirk said the U.S. thinks such talks "would need to achieve full liberalization of market access for all categories of goods, and expand transatlantic flows of services and investment. The United States also believes an ambitious approach should identify new approaches to non-tariff barriers. For example, if food and agricultural imports are blocked by health- or safety-related measures, then those measures must be supported by sound science and risk assessments. Tackling those non-tariff barriers successfully would constitute a major breakthrough."
Kirk also said "a shared sense of responsibility and opportunity is driving our joint work to promote trade and investment integration in transitioning economies in the Middle East and North Africa." He said there are "increased opportunities at the multilateral negotiating table, and there are high expectations not only for the United States and the EU, but also for emerging countries that have benefitted the most from multilateral integration -- such as Brazil, China, India, South Africa, and soon Russia -- to help find new ways toward additional market-opening achievements in the WTO."
But the U.S. "does not see utility in the WTO returning to the negotiating dynamic that existed before," Kirk said. "The clear message ... is that it is time to move on and start charting a new course -- identifying concrete opportunities to advance trade liberalization and reinforcing the WTO as a bulwark against trade protectionism. ... Strong plurilateral results can serve as stepping stones to broader multilateral measures."