“A free trade agreement between the EU and the USA will boost business on both sides of the Atlantic, create growth and jobs, and thus help overcome the continuing crisis,” stated Matthias Wissmann, President of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA). He was speaking at today’s IAA symposium entitled “The Transatlantic Partnership – Opportunities & Challenges.” The event was organised by the VDA jointly with the Atlantik-Brücke association and the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany, and attracted more than 250 participants.
According to an EU study, the USA can expect 95 billion euro, and the EU can actually expect 119 billion euro, in additional economic power every year. This corresponds to an extra 545 euro of disposable income for a family of four in the EU. “A transatlantic free trade agreement offers considerable potential to the automotive industry,” Wissmann continued. “Because although around 40 per cent of total global vehicle sales occur on the American and European markets, import barriers still exist between these two economic areas. German automotive manufacturers alone pay around one billion euro annually in import duties. Alongside the elimination of import duties, action must be taken above all in relation to the numerous non-tariff trade barriers. What is needed is enhanced regulatory co-operation and either mutual recognition or harmonisation of standards. It is incomprehensible why automotive manufacturers have to develop and produce differentexterior mirrors, indicators or bumpers for Europe and the USA. Merely the simplification of technical regulations like these could enable manufacturers and suppliers – and therefore also consumers – to save billions every year.”
Kevin C. Milas, the US Consul General in Frankfurt, who gave a welcome address, and keynote speaker Bob Kimmitt, Chairman of the American Council on Germany, both underlined in their speeches the importance of a transatlantic free trade zone. “The European-American economic area is the largest in the world. It accounts for about 50 per cent of global gross domestic product,” Milas said.
Kimmitt’s lecture emphasised that a future agreement had to secure not only free trade, but also an investment partnership. “These aspects are two sides of the same coin,” Kimmitt explained, adding that “Good trade policy creates the basis for investment.” He expects a difficult negotiation process, but stressed, “The transatlantic economic relations are entering a new era. Co-operation in the business and finance sector is just as important as political and diplomatic relations. The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is just as significant for the future now as NATO was in the past.”
The symposium finished with a panel discussion chaired by Friedrich Merz, Chairman of Atlantik-Brücke. The members of the panel were Elmar Brok, MEP and Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs; Arndt G. Kirchhoff, CEO of Kirchhoff Automotive GmbH Co. KG; and Bernhard Mattes, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany and Chairman of Ford-Werke GmbH.
“The TTIP will not simply be another free trade agreement like the ones we have already. The TTIP will be an economic partnership among equals, covering not only trade issues, but also investments, services and standards, and opening up huge opportunities for more investment, innovations and jobs,” Mattes explained. “It will also be an important component for the future of a liberal international order.”
Kirchhoff mentioned three objectives that he considered crucial to the negotiations: “Firstly, free market access, which means mutual protection of investments and abolition of import duties. Secondly, agreement on common technical standards; and thirdly – and this is also a pattern for dealing with one another in the globalised world – agreements on protecting intellectual property, access to raw materials, and environmental and consumer standards. America and Europa, the two regions in the world with the most economic power, should set a good example of how we can promote job opportunities and increase prosperity, which will improve people life situation.”
“A transatlantic trade and investment partnership is a strong signal for fair competition and can trigger growth impulses,” Merz said. “We Europeans should see the shifts in the weighting of international relations as an incentive to push forward a trade and investment partnership with the USA, from which both sides will benefit.”
Elmar Brok drew attention to the necessary political pressure: “The field must not be left to detail freaks, because then we would never come to a conclusion. It must be politicians’ permanent job to urge the negotiators of the details to produce results. That is a task for the political leadership. Industry must elaborate as many common standards as possible. That will bring about the necessary pressure on the politicians,” Brok declared.
