Washington DC – The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) and USA*Engage today announced the appointment of Del Renigar as Co-Chairman of USA*Engage. Renigar serves as Corporate Counsel for International Policy & Trade Regulation for General Electric (GE) Company.

“There is no one more qualified than Del to take on the role of providing solid counsel, direction and leadership to USA*Engage,” said USA*Engage Director Jake Colvin. “Del brings with him many years of foreign policy and trade experience from both the public and private sectors, which we will draw upon to help move forward the mission of the organization.”

Renigar currently counsels all GE businesses on trade controls and anti-bribery compliance and global public policy, trade, investment, and market access issues. Before joining GE, Renigar served on the National Security Council at the White House and at the Commerce Department.

“It is a critical time for USA*Engage and its member companies to work with federal, state and local policymakers on a positive agenda that takes advantage of the complementary nature of U.S. foreign policy, national security and economic interests and that encourages dialogue, engagement and multilateralism as important tools in pursuing those interests, ” said Renigar.

Prior to his federal government service, Renigar was an attorney with Steptoe & Johnson LLP in Washington, DC where he maintained a broad international practice.

Renigar will succeed Robert Haines, International Senior Adviser for Exxon Mobil Corporation, who served as Co-Chairman of USA*Engage since 2003 and who will retire from the company at the end of the month. Haines has also been a member of the Board of the National Foreign Trade Council for 10 years.

“Both NFTC and USA*Engage are sincerely grateful for all of the contributions Bob has made to help achieve the mission of USA*Engage since it was established a decade ago,” said NFTC President and USA*Engage Co-Chair Bill Reinsch. “We appreciate Bob’s many years of service to the organization as a thoughtful leader and contributor and we wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”

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 policy-makers, 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 world wide.

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.

International Diplomacy and Multilateral Pressure Essential to Resolving the Conflict

Washington DC – USA*Engage and the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) today expressed support for a resolution introduced by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden (D-DE) and Ranking Member Richard Lugar (R-IN), which would put increased multilateral pressure on the government in Khartoum and further involve the international community in helping the people of Darfur to secure peace.

“We applaud the dedication and leadership of Senators Biden and Lugar for introducing and building unanimous support for legislation that will allow the United States and the rest of the international community to respond to the crisis in Darfur in a truly effective way,” said NFTC President Bill Reinsch. “While many state and national lawmakers have turned to unilateral or local divestment campaigns as a means to affect change in Sudan, these strategies do very little to actually help the people of Darfur. The United States and our allies should focus efforts instead on the multilateral approach outlined by the Senators.”

The resolution calls on the United States and our international allies to supply materials and equipment necessary to complete a successful peacekeeping mission. In addition, the legislation includes provisions that pave the way for the development of a comprehensive peace agreement to be reached through high-level diplomatic talks. The Biden-Lugar resolution also calls on the international community to impose multilateral sanctions if the government in Khartoum does not keep its word on commitments made.

 “Senators Biden and Lugar have it exactly right – uniting the international community around a plan of action is the way to effect change in Darfur,” said USA*Engage Director Jake Colvin. “We thank the Senators for their thoughtful, internationalist approach to conflict resolution.”

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 policy-makers, 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 world wide.

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.

Details Countermeasures Enacted by Countries to Prohibit Compliance

Washington DC – Some of the United States’ closest trading partners are responding to U.S. extraterritorial sanctions by enacting countermeasures and other means to block their application in foreign jurisdictions, according to a new report by the law firm of Dewey Ballantine LLP.  The paper, Foreign Sanctions Countermeasures and Other Responses to U.S. Extraterritorial Sanctions, was commissioned by USA*Engage and the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) and reports that despite the United States maintaining old and enacting new unilateral sanctions with extraterritorial reach, many of our allies have opposed them with countermeasures, thwarting their intended effects.

“The reality is that sanctions are only effective if they’re widely applied. Unilateral sanctions by far represent the most ineffective means to impact a foreign government or persons whose policies and behavior we disagree with or want to change,” said NFTC President Bill Reinsch. “The same is true for unilateral sanctions that extend beyond our borders and attempt to affect the behavior of entities, companies or persons overseas. These measures put companies in the impossible position of violating someone’s law no matter what they do.”

The report, written by Harry Clark and Lisa Wang of Dewey Ballantine, chronicles the history of nations using blocking statutes, trade complaints, U.N. declarations and other countermeasures to criticize, block or sidestep U.S. sanctions. As the paper points out, “During the Cold War, U.S. allies obstructed U.S. extraterritorial sanctions on the supply of materials for Soviet Union gas pipelines in Europe. Since the end of the Cold War, U.S. trading partners have supplemented blocking measures by challenging U.S. sanctions as being contrary to World Trade Organization (WTO) trade agreements.”

The paper notes, however, that while this trend has a long history, U.S. trading partners are now employing new, more creative means to avoid application of U.S. extraterritorial sanctions. Countries are not only using countermeasures consciously to block U.S. sanctions, but are also enacting civil rights laws and other legal defenses to justify not applying sanctions.

The report concludes by noting that, extraterritorial sanctions “could impede U.S. leadership and international collaboration needed to advance U.S. national security and foreign policy interests, including coordination to suppress international terrorism…[C]onflicts with authorities in other major economies, like the EU, are placing U.S. companies at risk of legal double jeopardy.  It would be useful to consider whether these types of disadvantages are outweighed by any utility from applying foreign policy sanctions extraterritorially.”

The release of the paper comes on the heels of votes Tuesday in the House of Representatives on Iran and Sudan sanctions legislation, which would target foreign companies doing business in those countries.

“Just this week we saw the House approve a measure that would expand the scope of sanctions against Iran to reach foreign subsidiaries of U.S. companies in Europe and Asia,” said USA*Engage Director Jake Colvin. “If, at the end of the day, those governments block the sanctions, or lodge complaints with us or the WTO, you start to become concerned that the good intentions of Congress might lead to an unproductive outcome.”

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 policy-makers, 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 world wide.

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.

Washington DC – USA*Engage and the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) today expressed disappointment in the approval of three sanctions and divestment-related bills by the House of Representatives.

“While the intention behind the divestment legislation (H.R. 2347 and H.R. 180) is beyond reproach, enabling states to become more involved in foreign policy is likely to complicate the ability of the President and Congress to make foreign policy decisions in the future,” said NFTC President Bill Reinsch. “We are pleased with the work that went into revising H.R. 180 to make it more targeted, but continue to believe that foreign policy sanctions by states may undermine the ability of the U.S. to speak with one voice.  These things may also frustrate cooperation with U.S. trading partners who often see them as a violation of U.S. international commitments.”

In particular, passage of H.R. 2347, which would enable state divestment from companies doing business in Iran, undercuts the assertion made in the Darfur Accountability and Divestment Act (H.R. 180) that “Congress acknowledges that divestment should be used sparingly and under extraordinary circumstances.”

Reinsch continued, “Through these bills, Congress is setting the stage for more attempts by state legislatures to divest from other countries, including potentially Russia and China, or the hot-button social issue of the day. State legislators are unlikely to wait for Congress’ blessing before attempting to divest for other reasons down the road.”

Since its introduction, the NFTC and USA*Engage have also opposed H.R. 957, a bill that seeks to expand the scope of the Iran Sanctions Act by imposing new U.S. sanctions on a number of companies in Europe and Asia.

“The Iran sanctions bill that passed the House today may backfire in terms of its intended impact. At the same time the United States is working with our allies to come up with a truly multilateral approach, Members of Congress have confused multilateral with extraterritorial and passed counterproductive unilateral legislation,” said Reinsch.

When the sanctions bill was first reported by the House Foreign Affairs Committee earlier in the year, the NFTC and USA*Engage joined five other trade associations in sending a letter to Chairman Lantos and Ranking Member Ros-Lehtinen to express concern. The groups highlighted the potential for legal issues resulting from the extension of penalties to cover the activities of foreign subsidiaries of U.S. companies.  The associations observed in the letter that “governments could implement blocking statutes and other measures to counteract the threat of U.S. penalties.”

At the same time, the NFTC and USA*Engage acknowledged the leadership of the House Ways and Means and Financial Services Committees for amending the bill to provide flexibility to the executive branch.

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.