On October 26, 2011, the US Chamber partnered with TUSIAD (the Turkish Industry & Business Federation) to host a conference on "Strengthening the U.S.-Turkish Global Partnership: Trade, Investment and the G20." In this photo from left to right: Ümit Boyner, Chair, The Turkish Industry and Business Association; Peter Rashish, Vice President for Europe & Eurasia, U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Congressman Gregory Meeks, (D-NY); and LTG (Ret) Dan Christman, Senior Counselor for International Affairs, U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Policy Initiatives & Working Groups
"Transatlantic Economic and Trade Pact" (ETP)
The U.S.-European economic and commercial relationship is the world’s largest with $4 trillion in trade, investment, and commercial sales by foreign affiliates in each other’s markets. But as the leading stakeholders of the global economy, the U.S. and the EU should not stand still. The Chamber supports the ongoing efforts to remove non-tariff barriers to trade within the Transatlantic Economic Council - and believes the transatlantic partners can go further. The Chamber is convinced that through elimination of tariffs, services trade liberalization, an investment agreement, establishing compatible regulatory regimes, and expansion of bilateral government procurement commitments, the U.S. and the EU will be capable together of producing the growth and jobs which both economies need to emerge in a sustainable way from the economic crisis. The Chamber believes that these jobs and growth will be created in the U.S. and the EU with the help of the Chamber proposed "Transatlantic Economic and Trade Pact" (ETP).
Meeting in Washington on November 28, 2011, the U.S.-EU summit leaders called for the establishment of a High-Level Working Group on Jobs and Growth to be led by U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht. President Obama, EU Council President Van Rompuy and European Commission President Barroso have tasked the working group - in consultation with private stakeholders - to provide an interim report on avenues for transatlantic trade liberalization by June 2012.
The U.S. Chamber warmly welcomes this ambition from the U.S. and the EU to pursue the full promise of the transatlantic economic relationship. The summit's fact sheet has proposed consideration of ways to create jobs and growth in the U.S. and the EU that closely reflect the Chamber’s proposed "Transatlantic Economic and Trade Pact" (ETP).
B8 - B20
B8 is a coalition of business organizations representing the private sector in the countries that make up the so-called Group of 8 (G8) plus the European Union. Canada is represented by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, United Kingdom by The Confederation of British Industry, France by Mouvement des Enterprises de France (MEDEF), Germany by the Federation of German Industries (BDI), Italy by the Confederation of Italian Industry (CONFINDUSTRIA) , Japan by Nippon Keidanren , Russia by the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) , and the United States of America by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce , and the . The European Union is represented by BUSINESSEUROPE.
The leaders of these organizations usually meet in advance of the annual G8 Summit in order to discuss and agree upon recommendations to the political leaders.
To read the final report from the B20 Business Summit in Cannes, France, November 2nd & 3rd click here. *Please note the Executive Summary in the beginning of the document.
To read the joint Industry letter on trade finance and the Basel framework click here.
Turkey Working Group
Turkey is the 15th most attractive destination for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the world according to UNCTAD's World Investment Prospects Survey and is predicted to be the fastest growing economy among OECD members during 2011-2017 with an annual average real GDP growth rate of 6.7 percent.
Despite this impressive performance, the U.S.-Turkish commercial relationship is not reaching its full potential given the size of the two economies. Although Turkey has a population of almost 79 million and a $960 billion economy, U.S.-Turkish two-way trade in 2010 was only $15 billion, with 3.9 percent of Turkish exports destined for the U.S. market and 5 percent of its imports coming from the U.S. Of the nearly $2 trillion cumulative U.S. foreign investment in Europe in 2009, Turkey accounted for only $6 billion, or less than 1 percent of the total.
In 2010, the U.S. Chamber launched its Turkey Working Group with a mission to create a more favorable strategic policy environment between Turkey and the U.S. which will facilitate higher levels of trade and investment.
American-Russian Business Dialogue
The American-Russian Business Dialogue (ARBD) was created to develop an association-to-association interaction, grounded in the partnership between the U.S. Chamber and the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs that addresses the challenges of 21st century global economic integration as they affect the United States and Russia. Key areas of focus include: improving the investment climate between both countries; advancing WTO accession for Rushisia, and a BIT; addressing energy security issues; protecting the environment and natural resources; and defending intellectual property while nurturing innovation and creativity.