Ahead of the 13th negotiating round of the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) talks in New York this week, there is a feeling if a deal isn’t concluded very soon it will face considerable delay. TTIP featured centrally in discussions between president Obama and German chancellor Merkel on the president’s visit to Germany, where they were joined by EU Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström and US Trade Representative Michael Froman.
Ahead of the 13th negotiating round of the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) talks in New York this week, there is a feeling if a deal isn’t concluded very soon it will face considerable delay.
TTIP featured centrally in discussions between president Obama and German chancellor Merkel on the president’s visit to Germany, where they were joined by EU Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström and US Trade Representative Michael Froman.
The urgency stems from the fact that not only is the current US administration its final phase, but the main presidential candidates are sounding cool about trade deals on the campaign trail.
If a conclusion isn’t reached during the Obama administration, it would be well into the new year when a new administration gets its head around the discussions and they will no doubt want to put their own mark on them.
Quick progress won’t be easy as the real difficult issues have still to be tackled in substance
That will in turn present problems in Europe, where elections are due in both France and Germany. It is conceivable that nothing much might happen between the third quarter of this year until 2018, by which time momentum would have been reduced if not lost completely. We can see why TTIP enthusiasts want a deal right now.
Quick progress won’t be easy as the real difficult issues have still to be tackled in substance. After 12 rounds of discussions over the past three years, negotiators will have a clear list of red-line issues. For Irish farmers, market access for beef will be the main concern as just about every other category of agriculture as well as industry in general is considered to benefit from a TTIP deal.
TTIP protests
No other set of trade discussions have generated the level of protest that TTIP has across Europe. The main driver for this is protection of worker rights, which are considered much stronger in the EU than in the US. The fear is that opening up the delivery of services to US tender would result in US work practices, while a proposed disputes resolution mechanism is considered a threat to the primacy of national courts. The example of a US cigarette company challenging the Australian government’s banning of cigarette packet branding is used. If successful, this would undermine the Irish Government’s decision to ban branding of cigarettes in Ireland.
The threat of a further low import tariff beef quota is what will scare Irish farmers most, though this isn’t a protest issue. Discussion on harmonisation of standards also presents huge threats to Irish farmers as use of hormones, antibiotics in feed, more relaxed welfare and environmental standards are all acceptable in the US but not the EU. The different approach to E coli is also informative – the EU works on prevention and cooking to manage the risk, while the US favours the treatment process, using lactic acid to kill any contamination. As things stand, the US beef producer has the upper hand in all these areas and Irish and EU farmers will be concerned at the possibility of a TTIP outcome making the playing field for Irish beef producers less level than it already is.
Critical days
These are critical days for Irish and EU farmers because of trade talks, particularly those involved in beef production. As well as TTIP coming to a head, the European Commission is in the process of finalising an offer to Mercosur, which will be tabled in the second week of May.
The potential 78,000t beef offer has sent shockwaves through EU farmers and industry, and we can only hope that our Government officials are succeeding in ideally having this eliminated or at least seriously reduced.
In addition to the present Hilton quota for 48,000t and the recent agreement with Canada for 50,000t, the initial Mercosur amount of 78,000t would almost double access at preferential tariffs (TRQ), and the US would have its expectations in TTIP. Overall, with a currently depressed European market, any further supply is only likely to devalue traditional EU production further.
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Opposition to trade discussions growing
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