Category: Press Releases and Statements
NFTC Releases Paper Outlining New Ideas for Advancing Multilateral Trade Negotiations, Global Trade Liberalization
Washington DC – The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) today released, “A 21st Century Work Program for the Multilateral Trading System,” a paper outlining new ideas to advance the multilateral trade agenda and modernize global trade rules. The paper includes specific recommendations for moving beyond the Doha Round of World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations and encouraging the United States and other global economies to pursue an active and results-oriented multilateral trade agenda.
The NFTC, which promotes open markets and U.S. engagement in the world on behalf of its member companies – including Boeing, Caterpillar, Chevron, General Electric, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Procter & Gamble, United Technologies and Wal-Mart – has been supportive of an ambitious conclusion to the Round for more than a decade, but as talks have stalled, the association has outlined a new approach for a way forward.
“After more than a decade of negotiations that have not led global trade negotiators to an outcome, it’s time for fresh ideas to break the diplomatic logjam and find ways to move global trade liberalization forward,” said NFTC Vice President for Global Trade Issues Jake Colvin. “The NFTC and our member companies believe deeply that the WTO is a valuable institution and the right place to modernize global trade rules, but we need new approaches around which trade negotiators can coalesce.”
The NFTC paper recommends that the WTO pursue the following key initiatives:
- Conclude a trade facilitation agreement;
- Negotiate a services agreement;
- Take steps to discuss and address 21st Century global challenges, including optimizing the digital economy and movement of information across borders, improving global health outcomes and lowering obstacles to the development and adoption of clean technologies; and
- Consolidate trade liberalization under the WTO framework.
The paper also features a detailed “Analysis of WTO-consistent Approaches to Plurilateral and non-MFN Trade Agreements,” which was developed by Ambassador Stuart Harbinson, Senior Advisor to NFTC’s WTO Project and Bart De Meester, both of whom are with Sidley Austin’s Geneva office. The analysis provides insight on what can be accomplished legally under WTO rules by a coalition of nations “through agreements that would either condition additional commitments on the participation of a ‘critical mass’ of countries or which would not confer benefits of new commitments on countries which declined to participate in such agreements.”
“We are eager to work with the Administration to help drive an ambitious multilateral trade agenda at the WTO on behalf of the American business community,” said NFTC President Bill Reinsch. “We believe this paper helps provide a roadmap for action.”
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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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, USA*Engage File Amicus Briefs with Supreme Court in Major Alien Tort Statute Cases
Washington DC – The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) and USA*Engage on Friday filed two amicus briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court in major Alien Tort Statute (ATS) cases, one in support of the defendant in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, and the other supporting a petition for certiorari in the case of Rio Tinto v. Alexis Holyweek Sarei. Joining in the Kiobel brief were the American Petroleum Institute (API), the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the U.S. Council for International Business (USCIB), the Organization for International Investment (OFII) and the American Insurance Association. API, OFII and the National Mining Organization joined the Rio Tinto brief.
With a conflict among Circuit Courts on corporate liability and the standard for finding liability under the ATS, the Kiobel brief endorses the Second Circuit’s ruling on corporate liability and further argues that “even if the Court were to reject that contention, the judgment should be affirmed on the alternative ground that establishing aiding and abetting liability requires pleading and proving purpose to facilitate the direct violator’s unlawful conduct, not mere knowledge of the conduct.” The Kiobel brief also argues that the ATS can create friction with other countries because by asserting “the extraterritorial jurisdiction by U.S. courts over such conduct could provoke discord, not promote harmony, within the international community.”
In addition, the brief in the Rio Tinto case supports the defendants brief for a re-hearing en banc of a panel’s ruling that Rio Tinto had failed to exhaust domestic remedies in the case. As corporate liability is under review by the Supreme Court in the Kiobel case, the cert petition in this case asks the Court to address whether U.S. courts should recognize a claim under federal common law based on aiding and abetting liability and whether the defendant acted purposefully to aid the violations. The cert petition points out the deep divisions among circuits over whether liability requires mere knowledge of a violation or purposeful assistance of a violation, and urges the Court to limit liability to a finding of purpose. The brief concludes that the case should be dismissed under a standard of purpose by citing the dissent of Ninth Circuit Court Judge McKeown that “the complaint fails to allege the necessary purpose to survive the motion to dismiss.”
The argument in both the Kiobel and Rio Tinto briefs is centrally important to the U.S. business community because virtually all corporate ATS cases have been lodged on the ground that companies aided and abetted violations committed by the governments of countries in which they have operations.
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About USA*Engage
USA*Engage (www.usaengage.org) is a coalition of 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. Established in 1997 and organized under the National Foreign Trade Council (www.nftc.org), USA*Engage leads a campaign to inform policymakers, opinion leaders, and the public about the counterproductive nature of unilateral sanctions, the importance of exports and overseas investment for American competitiveness and jobs, and the role of American companies in promoting human rights and democracy worldwide.
USA*Engage (www.usaengage.org) is a coalition of 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. Established in 1997 and organized under the National Foreign Trade Council (www.nftc.org), USA*Engage leads a campaign to inform policymakers, opinion leaders, and the public about the counterproductive nature of unilateral sanctions, the importance of exports and overseas investment for American competitiveness and jobs, and the role of American companies in promoting human rights and democracy worldwide.
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 and USA*Engage Statement Opposing Senate Banking Committee’s Vote on Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Human Rights Act of 2012
Washington, DC – The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) and USA*Engage today released the following statement in response to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee’s vote to approve the Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Human Rights Act of 2012, which would impose additional U.S. unilateral sanctions on Iran.
“Like clockwork, the Senate Banking Committee today reported legislation, the Iran Sanctions Accountability and Human Rights Act of 2012, that yet again would impose further unilateral and extraterritorial sanctions on entities with economic ties to Iran,” said Bill Reinsch, President of the NFTC and Co-Chair of USA*Engage. “Despite the demonstrable failure of sanctions to achieve their stated goal and the adverse consequences they carry for ordinary Iranians, Congress persists in limiting the Administration’s ability to engage in frank negotiations with Iran unburdened by the accumulated dead weight of sanctions on autopilot.”
Reinsch continued, “For example, a provision in the bill sanctions the sale of communications technologies that the Iranian government could use to abuse the human rights of the citizenry; yet another provision calls for the U.S. Treasury to expedite the licensing of the same communications technologies for the use of Iranians to freely and safely communicate internally and globally. Perhaps it is time to let negotiations take place without measures that effectively prevent diplomatic progress.”
At best, if economic sanctions are truly multilateral and clearly but one part of a concerted diplomatic offensive, they may be a useful tool in changing the calculations of a sovereign government regarding such a strategic decision as the acquisition of nuclear weapons. It is hard to see, on the other hand, how a virtual embargo aimed at bringing a nation’s economy to ruin will change such calculations for the better.
“To date, the Administration has been able to make sanctions a multilateral tactic. Congressional insistence on more crippling sanctions enshrined into law, coupled with their bureaucratic implementation, in reality constitute an obstacle to strategic negotiation free of self-defeating preconditions,” said USA*Engage Director Richard Sawaya. “Once enshrined in law, what are in fact only tactics take on lives of their own, immune to the complex realities that Iran’s history and position in the region entail. The first casualty is what is always in short supply – intelligence. We recommend that Congress adopt new watchwords – enough already.”
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About USA*Engage
USA*Engage (www.usaengage.org) is a coalition of 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. Established in 1997 and organized under the National Foreign Trade Council (www.nftc.org), USA*Engage leads a campaign to inform policymakers, opinion leaders, and the public about the counterproductive nature of unilateral sanctions, the importance of exports and overseas investment for American competitiveness and jobs, and the role of American companies in promoting human rights and democracy worldwide.
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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 Applauds the WTO Appellate Body Ruling on Chinese Export Restrictions of Raw Materials
Washington DC – Following today’s announcement by the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Appellate Body affirming that Chinese export restrictions on raw materials violate global trade rules, the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) released the following statement:
“The NFTC applauds the WTO Appellate Body’s ruling on Chinese export restrictions of raw materials, as it confirms once again the importance of the WTO in imposing market-based discipline on the world trading system.
“Export restrictions such as those by China cited in this case are a form of protectionism, disrupting global supply chains with the potential to create artificial shortages and raise world prices of downstream goods – ultimately undermining the integrity of the trading system.
“Today’s ruling also has implications beyond its immediate impact because of other raw material export restrictions on rare earth minerals that China maintains. These raw materials are vital in the production of technology-based inputs to an increasing number of everyday products, making this an issue that affects a broad swath of U.S. technology-based companies.”
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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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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 and CEE Express Concern with President Obama’s Proposal to Consolidate Trade, Commerce Agencies
Washington, DC– Following President Obama’s announcement of his proposal to merge six trade and commerce agencies – the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Small Business Administration, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank), the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency – National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) President Bill Reinsch and Coalition for Employment through Exports (CEE) President John Hardy, Jr. released the following statements.
“While the NFTC respects the intent of President Obama’s efforts to streamline the federal government and increase efficiency, his proposal to consolidate these key trade and commerce agencies, particularly USTR, could interfere with efforts to engage key stakeholders, including the U.S. business community, and to maximize trade, economic growth and job creation,” said Reinsch. “Congress has historically been reluctant to combine USTR with other functions, preferring to have our chief trade negotiator concentrate on negotiating rather than be burdened with broader programmatic responsibilities. Considering this and given the current political climate in Washington, we do not anticipate that Congress, especially the Members of the House, will approve the President’s request for broad reorganization authority.”
“While we have yet to see extensive details on the proposed consolidation announced today, CEE believes any efforts beyond collocating these agencies will most likely result in reduced responsiveness to the needs of U.S. exporters – both small- and medium-sized businesses and large worldwide American companies,” said Hardy. “In our experience, we have found that smaller, more nimble agencies are better able to respond to the needs of American business – a reality that this proposal seems to ignore. Additionally, in this proposal the President emphasized the need to provide further support for small businesses. The best method for achieving this goal is to push for a quick reauthorization of Ex-Im Bank.”
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 Ministerial
Washington, DC – Jake Colvin, National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) Vice President for Global Trade Issues, released the following statement from Geneva during the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference:
“This week, the WTO demonstrated its value as an institution through several important initiatives. NFTC congratulates WTO members for formally approving Russia’s accession application. We appreciate the hard work of U.S. negotiators to conclude this process and look forward to working with the U.S. Administration and Congress to revoke Jackson-Vanik so that the United States and Russia can take full advantage of the new trading relationship under the WTO. NFTC is also encouraged by agreement on a new government procurement text, and hopes that this successful conclusion of talks will spur other countries to redouble their efforts to subscribe to the GPA.
“Despite these achievements, the WTO stands at an important crossroads following this week’s conference. Countries have acknowledged that the Doha Round stands at an impasse, but the real challenge for negotiators will be to find new pathways to allow progress on meaningful trade liberalization.
“Heading into next year, countries have an opportunity to capture under the WTO framework growing enthusiasm surrounding a range of issues increasingly critical to economic growth and development. Issues from trade facilitation to services commitments to innovation and the digital economy would benefit from the development of new understandings and disciplines under the WTO. Member countries must demonstrate that the WTO is a flexible enough institution to deal with these kinds of critical issues in a timely fashion. We look forward to working with the U.S. Government and negotiators around the world in 2012 to identify pathways to advance and conclude meaningful trade liberalization.”
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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USA*Engage Expresses Deep Disappointment Over Senate Approval of Iran Sanctions Amendment to Defense Authorization Bill
Washington DC – USA*Engage today released the following statement in response to the U.S. Senate’s approval of an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, which would impose additional U.S. unilateral sanctions on Iran.
“We are deeply disappointed with the Senate’s vote to approve amendment 1414 to the defense authorization bill. While the amendment was likely well-intentioned and aimed at making a strong political statement to the Iranian regime, as history has proven time and time again, unilateral U.S. sanctions are ineffective. Today’s vote was both ill-timed and ill-advised. Should world oil prices spike as a result, Iran will be the beneficiary,” said Bill Reinsch, President of the National Foreign Trade Council and Co-Chair of USA*Engage.
“Just last week, the United States joined with our allies in the international community in a coordinated effort to enact ‘smart,’ multilateral sanctions on Iran – a move that USA*Engage welcomed – and now we have the Senate working at cross-purposes to enact stand-alone unilateral sanctions legislation,” said Richard Sawaya, Director of USA*Engage. “Saying that the amendment approved today is ‘counterproductive’ is an understatement. It could jeopardize the strength of the entire international consensus on multilateral Iran sanctions the United States has worked so hard to develop.”
In a letter sent today by U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin today, “…this amendment threatens severe sanctions against any commercial bank or central bank if they engage in certain transactions with the CBI [Central Bank of Iran]. This could negatively affect many of our closest allies and largest trading partners. Rather than motivating these countries to join us in increasing pressure on Iran, they are more likely to resent our actions and resist following our lead – a consequence that would serve the Iranians more than it harms them.”
USA*Engage on Monday sent a letter to Senators urging them to oppose any Iran sanctions-related amendments to the defense authorization bill.
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About USA*Engage
USA*Engage (www.usaengage.org) is a coalition of 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. Established in 1997 and organized under the National Foreign Trade Council (www.nftc.org), USA*Engage leads a campaign to inform policymakers, opinion leaders, and the public about the counterproductive nature of unilateral sanctions, the importance of exports and overseas investment for American competitiveness and jobs, and the role of American companies in promoting human rights and democracy worldwide.
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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U.S. Business Leaders Request FBAR Relief for Employees of SEC-Reporting Worldwide American Companies
Washington DC – Seven leading U.S. business community associations today released a letter sent to the U.S. Treasury Department earlier this month, requesting that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) adopt less burdensome rules for Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) filings required by employees of worldwide American companies involved in global finance, which report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In a letter to FinCEN Director James H. Freis, Jr., the associations – the National Foreign Trade Council, Financial Executives International Committee on Taxation, United States Council for International Business, Software Finance and Tax Executives Council, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, TechAmerica and Information Technology Industry Council – wrote:
“Multinational companies are increasingly frustrated by changing rules that unnecessarily expand the FBAR filing requirements for their employees, create traps for innocent violations and potentially impose costly penalties.
“…The current rules are burdensome and complex and create the potential for inadvertent errors by corporate finance employees. Indeed, the latest FBAR rules arguably are more burdensome than the prior guidance – with no apparent justification. Because this issue affects most multinational companies, it likely impacts thousands of corporate employees in the US and abroad and potentially requires hundreds of thousands of unnecessary FBAR filings.
“There is no valid reason why individual employees should have to file FBAR for accounts over which they only have signature authority where the US parent files a report for all of the company’s foreign financial accounts, whether held in the names of domestic or foreign entities. Companies do not want to subject their employees to tax penalties for inadvertent failures to follow the confusing FBAR rules.
“…We respectfully submit that FinCEN has access to all of the information it needs concerning the foreign accounts of SEC-reporting entities – from the consolidated FBARs filed by these entities and any specific requests FinCEN staff may wish to make of them. There is no need to burden thousands of individual employees with obligations to make duplicative filings for accounts maintained for the sole benefit of their employers.”
The primary objective of FBAR filings is to help the government detect money laundering or other criminal activity through the use of foreign financial accounts. The associations emphasized in the letter that their members do not pose a meaningful risk of such activities, and their employees should not be exposed to penalties for not making individual filings in any case.
For the full text of the letter, please click here.
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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USA*Engage Welcomes Administration’s ‘Smart,’ Multilateral Effort on Iran Sanctions
Urges Congress to Refrain from Counterproductive Action
Washington DC – USA*Engage today released the following statement in response to the Administration’s announcement of additional sanctions on Iran.
“We welcome the Administration’s multilateral work with our allies to impose expanded sanctions on entities in Iran that materially support Iran’s nuclear procurement network,” said Bill Reinsch, President of the National Foreign Trade Council and Co-Chair of USA*Engage. “As advocates of ‘smart’ sanctions and opponents of extraterritorial, unilateral sanctions, we applaud the Administration for taking decisive, coordinated and focused action under the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act and the USA PATRIOT Act.”
“We applaud the Administration for carving out financial transactions for humanitarian trade, as far too often the unintended consequences of broad-brush sanctions negatively affect citizens of sanctioned nations, while failing to have any real impact on the regime they are intended to target,” said Richard Sawaya, Director of USA*Engage.
“Given the Administration’s action, we urge Congress to refrain from taking any steps to enact additional, unilateral sanctions, either in stand-alone legislation or as amendments to other ‘must pass’ legislation. Such measures would be counterproductive to deliberative, multilateral measures,” Sawaya concluded.
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About USA*Engage
About 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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