Shortly after it was announced that Donald Trump had won the United States presidential election, European Commission Vice-President with responsibility for economic matters Jyrki Katainen and his colleague at Trade Cecilia Malmström expressed cautious optimism on Wednesday 9 November over the continuation of negotiations on an EU-US free-trade agreement (TTIP). Talks were opened in 2013 but the parties have not been able to conclude an agreement under the outgoing Obama administration.
“It is an excellent day to talk about free trade”, stated Katainen, an ironic smile on his lips, at a press briefing during which the Commission unveiled its proposal for a new method of calculating anti-dumping duty (see other article). “There are 19 trade related negotiations between the EU and third countries going on, at the moment, it shows clearly that the EU is strongly in favour of free trade, freer trade and fair trade”, he went on to say in a message that may be understood as a statement of the EU’s desire for trade openness, as opposed to the isolationism promised by Trump during his election campaign.
“It is natural to expect that there is some sort of break in the negotiations because the new administration will set up and will take the position and then we see what is the new stand”, said Katainen when asked about the future of TTIP.
Katainen was keen, however, to express his optimism for the continuation of the process, stressing that TTIP “was not an issue” during the US electoral campaign, “at least not to the same extent as TPP” (Ed: the free-trade deal between the United States and eleven Asia-Pacific countries, struck at the start of 2016).
“President elected Donald Trump has made statements which can be interpreted to be against free trade. There are lot of interests amongst the administration, amongst the authorities and especially amongst the business sector in the USA on TTIP. One should not underestimate this” suggested Katainen, pointing out that the reasons underlying these negotiations “are still the same, they have not changed”: improving trade because it generates jobs, creating a better environment for secure investment, and strengthening geopolitical cooperation. “All those underlying facts are still there. Everything else remains to be seen. The only thing which is sure now is uncertainty. And we just have to keep calm and wait once when we start getting answers from the new administration and the president”, he stated.
“I really don’t believe that either side of the Atlantic would like to jeopardise the value of transatlantic relationship. It is a very deeply rooted relationship. It is not a cyclical issue, it is not a question of persons. We represent the same values in world trade, and when it comes to the human rights. And also we are partners in security. For the moment, we simply don’t know. The new president will clarify different policies once in the office”, Katainen added.
“It has been clear for quite some time that TTIP wouldn’t be finished under President Obama’s administration. We will, of course, by the end of the year take stock of where we are with the current administration and we will discuss with our member states as well. It is clear that there will be a natural break in this negotiation. How long will that break be? Impossible to say. We need to know more about the future new administration, about who is going to be US trade representative” (Ed: replacing Mike Froman), Malmström made clear.
“There is still a lot of uncertainty. There is still a very good case to have TTIP. To facilitate trade between the two biggest economic powers of the world makes all the sense in the world. And there is lot of support for this in the USA today as well”, continued Malmström, looking to be optimistic.
“TTIP has not at all been on the agenda, neither during the intense campaign, nor before. What has been discussed in the USA in the bigger context of free trade is NAFTA (Ed: the North American Free-Trade Agreement between Canada, the US and Mexico) and TPP. TTIP is simply not under the radar because it hasn’t been is not seen as controversial. And because TTIP it is not an agreement yet”, she went on to say. She gave assurances that, in the vast majority of the countries of the EU, there is a “strong majority” in favour of TTIP, although she did make passing reference to “opposition to TTIP in some countries”. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)