Category: Press Releases and Statements
Business Groups Launch Push for U.S.-Middle East Free Trade Area
NFTC Urges Rejection of NDAA Export Control Provisions
Industry Groups Line Up Against Return to “Cold War” Policies
“If the House provisions are adopted, it will be a step backward for
The letter stated:
Taken together, these provisions are counterproductive to
The attempt to turn back the clock to Cold War-era export controls will only damage
The letter is available at http://www.nftc.org/default/usa%20engage/Conferee%20Ltr%20Final%20NDAA%209-29-4.pdf . It was signed by the following organizations.
AeA
Aerospace Industries Association
Coalition For Employment Through Exports
Computer Coalition For Responsible Exports
Industry Coalition on Technology Transfer
Information Technology Industry Council
National Defense Industrial Association
National Foreign Trade Council
Satellite Industry Association
Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International
Semiconductor Industry Association
The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) www.nftc.org is a leading business organization advocating an open, rules-based global trading system. Founded in 1914 by a broad-based group of American companies, the NFTC serves its several hundred member companies through its offices in
NFTC Urges Rejection of NDAA Export Control Provisions
Industry Groups Line Up Against Return to “Cold War” Policies
“If the House provisions are adopted, it will be a step backward for
The letter stated:
Taken together, these provisions are counterproductive to
The attempt to turn back the clock to Cold War-era export controls will only damage
The letter is available at http://www.nftc.org/default/usa%20engage/Conferee%20Ltr%20Final%20NDAA%209-29-4.pdf . It was signed by the following organizations:
AeA
Aerospace Industries Association
Coalition For Employment Through Exports
Computer Coalition For Responsible Exports
Industry Coalition on Technology Transfer
Information Technology Industry Council
National Defense Industrial Association
National Foreign Trade Council
Satellite Industry Association
Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International
Semiconductor Industry Association
The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) www.nftc.org is a leading business organization advocating an open, rules-based global trading system. Founded in 1914 by a broad-based group of American companies, the NFTC serves its several hundred member companies through its offices in
U.S.-Bahrain FTA Coalition Applauds Signing of U.S.-Bahrain FTA
NFTC Applauds Concrete Progress on Doha Round Talks
Urges WTO Members to Adopt the Revised Framework Package
Washington, DC – The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) issued the following statement on the revised WTO framework package on the Doha Development Agenda:
“The National Foreign Trade Council and its members urge WTO members to agree to the revised framework package released this morning in Geneva. Moving forward with the text is vital to achieving concrete progress on the Doha Round. It will allow the negotiations to evolve to the next level of detail and build momentum for a successful and timely conclusion to the trade talks. It is clear from the ambiguity of some elements of the text that important and difficult decisions have been deferred, but agreement on the text will nonetheless demonstrate the commitment of WTO members to advancing multilateral trade liberalization and a rules-based trading regime that generates growth and opportunity for all its members.
The NFTC attaches great importance to the emerging agreement on a framework for the agriculture negotiations that will allow the negotiation of a final outcome in the Round that is both comprehensive and ambitious. On non-agricultural market access, the NFTC recognizes that difficult negotiations lie ahead but is nevertheless pleased that the text keeps the prospect of a substantial result in view. We are also pleased that the core issue of services is given its due recognition in the text. On trade facilitation, the NFTC welcomes the decision to initiate negotiations in an area so important to economic growth.
Since the launch of the Doha Round, the NFTC has urged WTO member governments to seize hold of the enormous economic promise of this latest round of multilateral trade negotiations by aiming for ambitious results across-the-board. We firmly believe this objective is ultimately the best win-win outcome for developing and developed countries and for ensuring the WTO remains a solid institution in tune with the realities of today’s global marketplace. We look forward to supporting that objective in the coming weeks and months as the negotiations move to the next stage.”
The National Foreign Trade Council (
www.nftc.org) is a leading business organization advocating an open, rules-based global trading system. Founded in 1914 by a broad-based group of American companies, the NFTC now serves 300 member companies through its offices in Washington and New York.Passage of U.S.-Morocco FTA in House & Senate Committees Should Spur Agreement Completion Before August Recess, Business Coalition Says
U.S.-Morocco FTA Coalition Praises Congress For Strong Approval in Mock Mark Up; Urges Completion Before August Recess
NFTC Urges Congress to Protect American Trademarks In Cuba
WASHINGTON DC– Today, Bill Reinsch, president of the National Foreign Trade Council, urged the Senate Judiciary Committee to repeal “section 211,” a law that threatens thousands of U.S. trademarks currently registered in Cuba.
“NFTC’s 300 member companies support full repeal of section 211 as embodied in
S. 2002, the U.S. Cuba Trademark Protection Act. Quite simply, it’s the only way to ensure compliance with all U.S. trade and treaty obligations and protect the interests of the more than 400 U.S. companies currently holding 5,000 trademarks in Cuba,” remarked Reinsch.
Reinsch was one of several experts asked to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the issue of section 211 of the 1999 Omnibus Appropriations Act. The law allows for discriminatory treatment of certain Cuban trademarks by prohibiting their renewal and by denying their holders access to legal redress in U.S. courts.
The WTO has ruled that section 211 violates TRIPS, the global intellectual property protection treaty, and has given Congress until the end of 2004 to bring the U.S. back into compliance.
Because section 211 is not consistent with long-standing U.S. intellectual-property protection obligations, the 5,000 American trademarks currently registered in Cuba are in jeopardy of infringement and counterfeiting.
“As we saw in South Africa, recovering the rights to trademarks necessitates lengthy and expensive litigation. The U.S. can avoid a repeat scenario in Cuba by maintaining consistent and predictable intellectual property relations. Step one in this maintenance must be full repeal of section 211,” continued Reinsch.
Despite political hostilities spanning four decades, both the U.S. and Cuba, in a rare act of cooperation, have respected each other’s intellectual property rights by honoring trademarks for nearly 75 years.
The National Foreign Trade Council is a leading business organization advocating an open, rules-based global trading system. Founded in 1914 by a broad-based group of American companies, the NFTC now serves 300 member companies through its offices in Washington and New York.
NFTC and USA*Engage Cite U.S. Supreme Court Decision To More Narrowly Define Alien Tort Provision as Important Step In Curbing Erroneous Lawsuits
Washington DC – With its unanimous decision to reverse the lower court ruling in Jose Francisco Sosa v. Humberto Alvarez-Machain, et al., the U.S. Supreme Court has taken an important step in narrowing the scope of the Alien Tort Statute of the Judiciary Act of 1789 (ATS), according to officials with the National Foreign Trade Council and USA*Engage. The opinion particularly warned courts in the future to be “wary” of the foreign relations implications of using the ATS to impede the “discretion of the Legislative and Executive Branches in managing foreign affairs.”
“We welcome the Court’s ruling in the Sosa case, which more closely limits the use of the ATS – a statute that has been misused more and more often over the last decade,” said Bill Reinsch, President of the National Foreign Trade Council and Co-Chairman of USA*Engage. “Particularly distressing has been the use of the ATS in a growing number of cases against multinational corporations that do business around the world. While the Sosa case did not involve American business, we believe the Court’s opinion clearly indicates that the ATS should not be used to institute foreign policy in American courts. The decision is an important first step in defining the true meaning and intent of the centuries-old Alien Tort Provision. In the future, lower courts must take this narrower view in cases brought using the ATS.”
Citing an influx of unwarranted lawsuits brought in American courts against U.S. and international companies over the last decade which misinterpret the ATS, the National Foreign Trade Council, USA*Engage and several additional business organizations filed an amicus brief at the beginning of this year that was accepted in the Sosa case.
“We are gratified that the Supreme Court made clear the ATS is jurisdictional in nature; it has ‘raised the bar’ significantly in limiting which cases can be brought under the statute. With the tremendous growth in lawsuits brought to seek redress from corporations for the wrongs of foreign governments, the Court’s stricter approach to interpreting the law is prudent. Distorting the American legal system by using the ATS helps no one – it strains U.S. bilateral relations, discourages much needed U.S. foreign direct investment in developing countries and actually impedes the goals of those filing the lawsuits. While additional judicial interpretation will be needed to address the vagaries of the ATS that the Sosa opinion did not address, the opinion sets a vital precedent from which U.S. Courts can draw when interpreting this often-misused statute.”
The National Foreign Trade Council is a leading business organization advocating an open, rules-based global trading system. Founded in 1914 by a broad-based group of American companies, the NFTC now serves 300 member companies through its offices in Washington and New York.
USA*ENGAGE is a coalition of more than 670 small and large businesses, agriculture groups and trade associations working to seek alternatives to the proliferation of unilateral U.S. foreign policy sanctions and to promote the benefits of U.S. engagement abroad. For more information on USA*ENGAGE and the harmful effects of unilateral trade sanctions, visit the USA*ENGAGE web site at www.usaengage.org
