Category: Press Releases and Statements

NFTC Welcomes Launch of Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership

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Washington DC – The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) today welcomed the announcement by President Obama, European Commission President Barroso and European Council President Van Rompuy that the United States and the European Union will be launching negotiations on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) agreement.

The NFTC released the following statement:

“We welcome today’s announcement that trade negotiations between the United States and European Union will launch in July. The U.S.-EU relationship is an important one, and establishing a TTIP agreement will only further expand market access, grow the U.S. economy, increase exports and create American jobs.

“We look forward to a successful conclusion to the negotiations, and encourage negotiators to continue to work toward an ambitious and comprehensive agreement.”

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About the NFTC
Advancing Global Commerce for Nearly A Century- 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 hundreds of member companies through its offices in Washington and New York.
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NFTC, Other Leading Business Groups Urge President to Support Tax Policies at G-8 Meeting that Promote U.S. Competitiveness

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Washington DC– The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) joined with other leading business organizations today in sending a letter to President Obama urging him to support tax policies in his discussions at the upcoming G-8 meeting that would improve the worldwide competitiveness of American businesses, increase economic growth and provide for sustained job creation.

The groups wrote:


“… Other countries around the world are promoting the international competitiveness of their companies and creating jobs by adopting modern tax laws that enhance the ability of their locally-headquartered companies to serve foreign markets. At the same time, however, recent tax initiatives in a number of foreign countries, including several of our G-8 partners, appear to be primarily targeting American companies with global operations in the guise of combating tax avoidance, potentially harming both the U.S. companies’ competitive position and the U.S. Treasury. Similar discussions are now proceeding at European Commission and OECD levels as well, revisiting the current international tax consensus and prompting much interest from large emerging economies also seeking additional tax revenues from foreign businesses.

“Any changes that discriminate against American companies doing business abroad would make it more difficult for them to compete in the world’s markets and hamper their ability to grow and add jobs in the United States. It is vital to the health of the U.S. economy that American businesses remain free of international double taxation and similar barriers to cross-border trade and investment and are not subjected to new tax rules and policies that would create new disadvantages. Therefore, it is imperative that the current international tax policy discussions focus on promoting international tax rules that are stable, predictable, nondiscriminatory, and administrable. The rules should not include onerous public disclosure requirements, but should instead focus on possible improvements to transparency with tax authorities where appropriate. They should aim to develop best practices and principled international tax policies that apply equally to all companies. A growth-focused approach that ensures a level playing field is essential.”

In addition to the NFTC, the letter was signed by Business Roundtable, Financial Executives International, Information Technology Industry Council, National Association of Manufacturers, Software Finance & Tax Executives Council, TechAmerica, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and United States Council on International Business.
To read the full letter, click here.
 
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About the NFTC
Advancing Global Commerce for Nearly A Century- 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 hundreds of member companies through its offices in Washington and New York.
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NFTC Urges Senators to Support Bipartisan Sugar Reform Amendment to 2013 Farm Bill

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Washington DC – National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) President Bill Reinsch today sent a letter to all Senators, urging them to support Senate Amendment 925 to the 2013 Farm Bill, which was introduced by Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Mark Kirk (R-IL) and 15 other cosponsors.

Reinsch wrote:

“… This bipartisan amendment is aimed at making modest reforms to federal sugar policy that would reduce food costs to every American family as well as stop the distortions of U.S. trade policy caused by the sugar program. These reforms would help to save consumers and businesses up to $3.5 billion every year and protect hundreds of thousands of American jobs in sugar-using industries.

“One of the most significant side effects of the sugar program has been its distorting impact on U.S. trade policy. Maintaining import protections on sugar forces U.S. negotiators to make concessions elsewhere, which means sacrificing export potential for other crops and weakening the position of the United States in nonagricultural areas in negotiations ranging from the Trans-Pacific Partnership to WTO rounds.

“The sugar program has had the effect of increasing domestic sugar prices over the past four years, which have ranged from 64 to 92 percent higher than the average world price. The artificially high prices have greatly affected consumers as well as food and beverage manufacturers in the United States, which must deal with a reduced global competitiveness, less investment, lower sales, and most importantly fewer employment opportunities.

“…The National Foreign Trade Council fully endorses the Shaheen-Toomey-Kirk amendment, which will lower prices for consumers, provide support for a whole host of producers who use sugar, and save taxpayers millions of dollars.”

To read the full letter, click letter


About the NFTC
Advancing Global Commerce for Nearly A Century- 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 hundreds of member companies through its offices in Washington and New York.
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NFTC Submits Comments on TTIP Agreement

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Washington, D.C. – The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) today, in response to a Federal Register request by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, submitted comments regarding the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) agreement.

To follow is an excerpt of the NFTC’s comments. For the full text, click here.

“The United States and the European Union are the world’s largest economies, with each generating over $15 trillion in GDP and together producing half of the world’s output. Each is also the other’s largest trading partner, with more than $1.5 trillion in goods, services, and income receipts annually. Together we lead the world in maintaining and shaping the rules based global trading and investment system that powers growth, prosperity, and jobs at home and in every country on earth.

“As noted in prior comments, NFTC urges the Administration to negotiate an agreement that will:

• Maintain strong political commitment to a successful conclusion and oversight of technical negotiations to assure a timely and ambitious result.

• Set clear criteria to ‘do no harm’ that would backtrack on existing U.S. high standards set in U.S.-Korea (KORUS) free trade agreement and other bilateral or multilateral agreements or result in any new barriers to trade and investment between the US and EU or against third parties.

• Build on groundbreaking disciplines on “21st century” trade and investment issues developed in the context of current Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations.

• Bring a “whole of government” commitment to include the range of U.S. and EU independent governmental and sub-federal entities.

• Increase regulatory cooperation to maximize existing and future regulatory compatibility and equivalence wherever possible, recognizing industry developed testing and voluntary consensus standards. …

“… NFTC fully backs an ambitious TTIP that addresses tariff and non-tariff barriers and regulatory issues as appropriate, though the remainder of these comments will focus on several priority areas that we believe are essential to address in the negotiations:
(1) boosting participation in the global digital marketplace;
(2) enhancing the transatlantic framework for Intellectual Property rules and protections and bolstering collaboration vis-à-vis third countries and global forums;
(3) facilitating global mobility; and
(4) improving disciplines on state-owned enterprises. …”

 

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About the NFTC
Advancing Global Commerce for Nearly A Century- 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 hundreds of member companies through its offices in Washington and New York.
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NFTC Statement on WTO Director-General Selection Process

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Washington DC – National Foreign Trade Council Vice President for Global Trade Issues Jake Colvin released the following statement in reaction to the announcement by the World Trade Organization (WTO) that Brazil’s Roberto Azevedo has been identified as the candidate for the next WTO Director-General around whom consensus can be built:

“NFTC congratulates Ambassador Azevedo on today’s announcement. We admire his extensive experience and deep familiarity with international trade institutions and processes on behalf of Brazil and the focus he has placed on consensus-building in Geneva.

“The next head of the WTO faces two critical tasks in steering the membership toward a successful outcome to the ministerial conference this December in Indonesia and building consensus toward a broader agenda to modernize trade rules for the digital age. We look forward to the conclusion of the selection process and working to further the important work of the WTO over the coming months.”

Following this announcement, under WTO rules, a General Council meeting will be convened no later than May 31, when member countries will be asked to formally take a decision to appoint the new Director-General. See the WTO’s outline of the Director-General selection process at: http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/dg_e/dg_selection_process_e.htm

Jake Colvin is available for comment. If you’d like to schedule an interview, please contact Jennifer Cummings at jcummings@fratelli.com or 202-822-9491.

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About the NFTC
Advancing Global Commerce for Nearly A Century- 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 hundreds of member companies through its offices in Washington and New York.
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NFTC Welcomes Nomination of Michael Froman as U.S. Trade Representative, Penny Pritzker for Secretary of Commerce

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Washington DC – The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) today welcomed President Obama’s announcement that he will nominate Michael Froman as the next U.S. Trade Representative and Penny Pritzker for U.S. Secretary of Commerce.

NFTC President Bill Reinsch released the following statement:

“With Mike Froman’s background and great depth and breadth of knowledge on trade matters, President Obama could not have made a better choice for our next U.S. Trade Representative. The TPP and U.S.-EU trade negotiations are at the forefront of the U.S. trade agenda this year, and it is essential that we have a trade ambassador with experience negotiating and finalizing trade agreements. Mike Froman – who played a critical role in the final stages of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement – is a proven closer of agreements. I have no doubt that he will be a tremendous leader in advancing the U.S. trade agenda.

“We also welcome today’s announcement on the nomination of Penny Pritzker for Secretary of Commerce. This position is vital to U.S. economic growth and job creation and with Pritzker’s extensive business leadership experience, she will be a great fit for the position.”

 


About the NFTC
Advancing Global Commerce for Nearly A Century- 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 hundreds of member companies through its offices in Washington and New York.
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