On Friday, May 13, WITA held a webinar previewing what we might expect from the second meeting of the U.S.-European Union Trade and Technology Council (TTC). Speakers discussed opportunities for the US and EU to work together on issues such as secure supply chains, semiconductors, rare earths, and critical minerals, which have taken on added importance in the midst of the war in Ukraine and Russia sanctions.

Featured Speakers: 

Tyson Barker, Head of the Technology and Global Affairs Program, German Council on Foreign Relations

Tony Fernandes, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Trade Policy and Negotiations, Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, U.S. Department of State

Jordan M. Haas, Director, Trade Policy and Government Relations, Intel Corporation

Eva Maydell, Member of the European Parliament (Bulgaria)

Moderator: Former Congressman Bart Gordon, U.S. Director, Trans-Atlantic Business Council (TABC)

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

Tyson Barker

Tyson Barker is the Head of the Technology and Global Affairs Program at the German Council on Foreign Relations. Tyson Barker joined DGAP in October 2020 as head of its Technology and Global Affairs Program. He previously worked at Aspen Germany where, as deputy executive director and fellow, he was responsible for the institute’s digital and transatlantic programs. Prior to that, Barker served in numerous positions including as senior advisor in the Bureau for European and Eurasian Affairs at the US State Department and director for transatlantic relations at the Bertelsmann Foundation. He has written for numerous publications on both sides of the Atlantic including Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Politico, The Atlantic, The National Interest, and Der Spiegel.

Barker was a Fulbright scholar in Austria and a Truman National Security Project Fellow. He was a recipient of the Taiwan Cultural Exchange Fellowship and a grant from the Starr Foundation to conduct research on Sino-European relations. Barker has a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and a master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). In addition to his native English, he speaks fluent German and Spanish.

Tony Fernandes

Tony Fernandes is the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Trade Policy and Negotiations in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, after having served as Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary since August 2021. Prior to that, Tony was Director of the Multilateral Trade Affairs Office in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.

Previously, Tony was Director for Regional Affairs in the Bureau of Legislative Affairs and Director for Africa and Middle East Programs in the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. He also served in the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the Diplomatic Readiness Task Force, and the Operations Center. His overseas assignments include positions in Turkey, Nigeria, Russia, Canada, and China.

Tony joined the Foreign Service in 1997 and is a member of the Senior Foreing Service. He holds a B.A. from Boston College, a J.D. from the University of Minnesota School of Law, and a Master’s in National Security Strategy from the National War College. 

Bart Gordon

Bart Gordon is the U.S. Director of the Trans-Atlantic Business Council, and a former Congressman. Mr. Gordon joined K&L Gates as partner in the Washington D.C. office after 26 years representing the state of Tennessee in the United States House of Representatives. Mr. Gordon served as Chairman of the House Committee on Science and Technology from 2007 to 2012. Mr. Gordon was also a senior member of the House Committee on Science and Technology from 2007 to 2010. Mr. Gordon was also a senior member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and served on the House Committee on Financial Services and the House Committee on Rules, Transatlantic Parliamentary Dialogue, and NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Mr. Gordon is a member of the Tennessee bar and the District of Columbia bar. 

Jordan M. Haas is the Director of Trade Policy and Government Relations at Intel Corporation and has over 20 years of experience advocating for policies that foster economic growth for American businesses. 

Haas joined the Obama Administration during the first year of the first term and served until the last day of the Administration. He played a lead role in advancing the Obama Administration’s trade legislative agenda, including running the Department of Commerce’s Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) outreach and as an active member of the White House interagency trade team. He was centrally involved in the teams that stood up the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework and the SelectUSA Summit.  

Haas served as Deputy Assistant Administrator for Congressional and Legislative Affairs at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) where he facilitated the development and passage of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, a long-term reauthorization of the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program, and the implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

As Director of Trade Policy at Internet Association, Haas was an active player in the private sector push for the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) and the U.S.-Japan Digital Trade Agreement. Haas was the first person to represent the digital industry on the Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Intellectual Property Rights (ITAC-13). 

Haas previously worked on Capitol Hill as Legislative Director for Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-TX), on the Senate Democratic Technology and Communications Committee, and for half a decade on the House Committee on Small Business. Haas has also worked for Polsinelli Shughart PC and at the Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA). A native of Shaker Heights, Ohio, Haas holds a BA from American University. 

The post WITA’s Sanctions Series: The War, Sanctions, Supply Chains, and the U.S.-European Union Trade and Technology Council appeared first on WITA.

On April 20, 2021, WITA discussed the efforts to increase trade in environmental goods, technologies and services through bilateral, regional and multilateral trade agreements.

PROGRAM AGENDA 

Welcome: 4:00 PM (US/Eastern)

• Kenneth Levinson, Executive Director, WITA

Remarks and Panelist Discussion: 4:05 PM

• Sarah Thorn, Senior Director, Global Government Affairs, Walmart
• Mark Linscott, Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council/Senior Advisor, The Asia Group
• Ambassador Vangelis Vitalis, New Zealand Deputy Secretary Trade and Economic, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
• Moderator: Maureen Hinman, Co-Founder and Chairman, Silverado Policy Accelerator

Followed by:

• Q & A with Audience – Webinar attendees are encouraged to use the Q&A function on the Zoom app to submit their questions in real time.

OVERVIEW

On Tuesday, Silverado’s co-founder and executive chairman Maureen Hinman joined the Washington International Trade Association (WITA) for its virtual event “Trading For Good,” a panel discussion exploring efforts to increase trade in environmental goods, services, and technologies through bilateral, regional and multilateral trade agreements. The event marked the second installment of WITA’s Trade and the Environment Series, a multipart event series co-sponsored by Silverado Policy Accelerator examining issues at the intersection of international trade and the environment.

Hinman moderated a wide-ranging discussion between three esteemed trade experts: Mark Linscott, the former assistant U.S. Trade Representative for South and Central Asian Affairs and a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council; Sarah Thorn, senior director of global government affairs for Walmart; and Ambassador Vangelis Vitalis, New Zealand’s deputy secretary for trade and economics at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The event attracted a broad audience, including current and former government officials, academics, industry representatives, foreign envoys, and non-governmental stakeholders.

The panelists focused in particular on potential paths toward a new agreement to expand market access for environmental goods following the collapse of plurilateral negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2016.

Ambassador Vitalis argued that the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), which accounts for 60 percent of total global GDP, can play a vital role in laying the groundwork for a future agreement by building off the 2011 APEC 54 list. Vitalis said that New Zealand, APEC’s host nation this year, is hoping to begin building broad support for an expanded list of environmental goods, an issue that proved a fatal sticking point in the WTO negotiations.

“Given that APEC is both consensus-based and voluntary, we think that it’s an opportunity to develop a longer and more ambitious list, and then we hope that APEC economies will want to take that to Geneva as a contribution to the process there, and also for [other nations] to think of it as a reference point,” he said. “In the APEC context, it’s very much a ‘define-by-doing’ [mentality] … We’ve very conscious of how long it takes to negotiate [a list], so we’re very anxious to avoid a protracted process.”

Linscott raised the possibility that future negotiations could move forward without China at the table — an option which was seen among trade experts as unlikely in the past, but which has gained some traction following the collapse of the 2016 negotiations, largely as a result of China actions.

“The question is, should China be at the table?” said Linscott. “Certainly there’s a free-rider problem if China is out, but given [past] experience, with China in, do we ever get to an agreement?”

Linscott also argued that an interim agreement on environmental goods could potentially provide a stepping-stone toward a broader agreement — an option that Hinman proposed in a recent op-ed for WITA — but noted that such an approach could run afoul of WTO principles.

“I think [an interim agreement] prompts a necessary discussion in the tariff world about the implications of [the most favored nation principle],” he said. “There’s this knee-jerk reaction that we have to protect that principle, but when there are concerns about free-riders — and one in particular — it should prompt healthy debate on the approach going forward.”

On the business side, Thorn presented Walmart’s case for a new environmental goods agreement, arguing that companies like Walmart would benefit from a trade agreement that lowered the costs of the green technologies that large companies need to meet their own environmental goals. Thorn also argued that there is broad-based support for a new agreement in the business community, noting that companies like Walmart have recognized that expanding access to green goods and services is not only the ethical path forward, but is also good for business.

“For us, this is about supply chain resilience and supply chain sustainability,” said Thorn. “We can’t just exhaust people and planet. We have to be thinking about how we’re going to renew if we’re going to be around in another, twenty, fifty, one hundred years.”

All participants said they were encouraged by U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai’s recent comments on trade and the environment, in which she made a strong case for using trade policy to advance climate objectives but stopped short of delineating specific trade measures the United States supports.

“Traditionally, in order to get things done on trade and the environment, we’ve needed U.S. leadership,” said Ambassador Vitalis. “It’s all well and good for the keen, goody-two-shoes countries like [New Zealand] to say, ‘We need to get something done on trade and the environment’ … but we really do need U.S. leadership, U.S. engagement, and the U.S. leaning in to really drive this agenda forward.”

Linscott said he is optimistic that the Biden administration will push for renewed environmental goods negotiations.

“During the Obama administration, [officials] were following very closely the negotiations on environmental goods, and they were big cheerleaders for efforts to get a trade agreement that would have some benefits for the diffusion of environmental technologies,” he said. “Some of those people are still around and are working for [United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate] John Kerry, so I can imagine there being some degree of excitement for those who do climate negotiations with respect to a new initiative among trade negotiators on EGA — and that’s how it should be.”

Across the board, participants agreed that renewed negotiations would mark a major step forward in the global effort to combat climate change — although it remains too early to tell whether they will take place in APEC, the WTO, a bilateral or regional forum, or in all of the above.

“Let’s not pretend that trade is going to be the silver bullet to solve climate change, but trade can make a contribution,” said Vitalis. “I think that’s a very powerful message to our societies: trade is actually part of the solution here, not part of the problem.”

To view the original overview on the Silverado Policy Accelerator website, please click here.

The post WITA’s Trade & Environment Series: Trading for Good appeared first on WITA.

On April 14, 2021, WITA discussed the efforts to modernize the US-Central America trade relationship, including to help address the current immigration crisis at the U.S. Southern Border.

• Kenneth Levinson, Executive Director, WITA

• Beth Hughes, Vice President, Trade and Customs Policy, American Apparel & Footwear Association
• Matt Rooney, Managing Director, The Bush Institute
• Maria Sierra, Policy Advisor, Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D.
• Patrick H. Ventrell, Director, Office of Central American Affairs, U.S. Department of State
• Moderator: Kellie Meiman Hock, Managing Partner, McLarty Associates

• Q & A with Audience – Webinar attendees are encouraged to use the Q&A function on the Zoom app to submit their questions in real time.

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

The post WITA Webinar: CAFTA, Trade and Immigration appeared first on WITA.

On June 25, WITA hosted a presentation with Rich Thau and Gina Derickson of Engagious, Jon Last of the Sports and Leisure Research Group, and Ron Bonjean of ROKK Solutions. This presentation includes findings of people’s willingness to re-engage in normal activities, such as a stay in a hotel, a fly on a plane, visit a retail store, go on a cruise, etc.; what conditions must be met before they’d be willing to re-engage; and (assuming the necessary assurances were made) how soon they would next return. 

Click to access the presentation:

WITA Webinar Featuring: 

Rich Thau, President & Co-founder, Engagious

Jon Last, President, Sports and Leisure Research Group

Ron Bonjean, Partner, ROKK Solutions

Gina Derickson, Research Director, Engagious

Summary: In this webinar Ron Bonjean, Jon Last, Rich Thau, and Gina Derickson explore Americans attitudes towards returning to normal after a global pandemic. The webinar began with Ron Bonjean giving an overview of the activities people normally do versus what activities they have done in the past month. Rich Thau then presented data on people’s level of concern over medical, financial, and social unrest. The data showed a consistent drop in concern levels from phase five to phase six.

John Last then explored how willing the country is to resume normal activities and what those who are unwilling are waiting on before they believe the country is ready to reopen. He also provided insight on how likely Americans are to take legal action against their employers if they contract COVID-19 in the workplace breaking it down by demographic group.

Gina Derickson then relayed responses from the survey participants regarding vaccines and testing. While Thau and Last concluded their presentation exploring differing attitudes towards coronavirus based on age group and people’s willingness to continue working from home. The webinar finished with a Q & A session with the panelists.

The post WITA Webinar: Back-to-Normal Barometer appeared first on WITA.

On Thursday, June 4th, WITA hosted a webinar examining critical issues ahead of the July 1^st implementation date, and the impact of COVID-19 on the ability of companies to achieve their implementation goals in the midst of the pandemic.

WITA Webinar Featuring: 

Jamieson Greer, Partner at King & Spalding and former Chief of Staff in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative

Kenneth Smith Ramos, Partner, AGON and Mexico’s Former Chief Negotiator for NAFTA

Governor Matt Blunt, President, American Automotive Policy Council and former Governor of Missouri

Kellie Meiman Hock, Managing Partner, McLarty Associates

Webinar Summary:

The webinar began with Moderator Kellie Meiman Hock asking Jamieson Greer about the likelihood of meeting the July 1st deadline for the implementation of USMCA. He compared this process to NAFTA, when the uniform regulations did not come out until a year the official implementation. Since we have already seen these regulations, Jamieson expressed optimism about the pace of the implementation process. He elaborated on the details of the labor value content rules for automotive industries and other labor department regulations.

Governor Matt Blunt then responded to Kellie’s question regarding the transition from NAFTA to USMCA regulations within the automotive sector, calling the July 1st deadline ambitious but doable. He, like Jamieson, was pleased that the uniform regulations came out, but saw some initial areas for improvement: weight averaging for light and heavy duty trucks would make industry compliance easier, and an administration-granted period of duty deferral would help companies get their documents organized in order to demonstrate compliance.

Kellie moved on to the topic of Mexico’s timeline for compliance, asking Kenneth Smith Ramos about how Mexican factories had been faring during the COVID-19 pandemic. He cited the disconnect between the North American countries’ list of essential industries as an ongoing issue contributing to supply chain disruption, but asserted Mexico’s overall preparedness to implement USMCA at the regulatory level.

The panelists also discussed the potential weaknesses of the rapid response mechanism within the agreement and the overall production levels of Mexican suppliers, followed by a Q&A session that addressed viewer questions about the cost of compliance for auto companies, the process of selecting panelists, and how the USMCA ties in with sustainability practices in trade.

The post WITA Webinar: COVID-19 and USMCA – The Pandemic and Implementation of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement appeared first on WITA.

On Thursday, May 28, WITA co-hosted a webinar with the Asia Society Policy Institute on WTO and what the organization needs to do to meet the challenges of the 21st Century. 

WITA Webinar Featuring: 

Mark Linscott, Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council/Senior Advisor, The Asia Group and former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for WTO and Multilateral Affairs

Terence Stewart, former Managing Partner, Law Offices of Stewart and Stewart, and author of the blog, Current Thoughts on Trade

Nigel Cory, Associate Director, Trade Policy, Information Technology, and Innovation Foundation

Moderator: Wendy Cutler, Vice President, and Managing Director, Washington D.C. office of the Asia Society Policy Institute – Read Wendy Cutler and Nigel Cory’s recent article: Time For An Upgrade: Moving WTO Negotiations Into The Digital World

Webinar Summary:

This webinar discussed the WTO’s process and timeline for finding Roberto Azevedo’s successor as Deputy General, as well as the WTO’s need to go digital. Mark Linscott provided insight on what the selection process looked like back in 2012 when Azevedo was chosen. Linscott also conveyed that last time there was a geographic array of individuals and no geographical red lines in terms of the candidates. Additionally, Linscott noted that Azevedo’s ability to facilitate and not his desire to promote a specific agenda is what ultimately led to his selection.

Terry Stewart offered his thoughts on what the U.S. is looking for in the next Deputy General, stating they are likely looking for a Deputy General that has the capability to find a path forward in what seems to be impassable waters rather than a candidate from a specific geographical location. Stewart also suspects that the U.S. will not put anyone forward, but will be working behind the scenes to encourage certain countries to put forth a candidate.

Nigel Cory expressed that the WTO’s lack of digital readiness has caused some deals nearing the finishing line, such as fishery subsidies, to be delayed. Cory noted that some of this lack of digital readiness is due to some countries reluctance to allow digital negotiations. Wendy Cutler stated that while the finalizing of negotiations necessitates in person interactions, a lot of the early talks can be done digitally.

The webinar concluded with a Q & A session where the panelists responded to questions about why the WTO selection process and deputy general matters, WTO reform, and what it would take for the WTO to move towards digital negotiations.

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