On 17th June 2013 a meeting was held in Brussels to launch the start of a process to create a new Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the EU and the USA. With an ambitious two year timeline to completion, this could become the blue print standard for all future international trade agreements. It could effectively become the new WTO (World Trade Organisation.)
Why is it this important? Current cross border trade between the EU and USA is 2 billion Euros per day! Over 50% of this trade is associated with the internet. The agreement has the potential to overcome trade barriers, remove unnecessary regulation and create major benefits for the digital and creative industries. It also has the potential to build in enforcement measures for intellectual property (IP), data protection and privacy in the digital community.
The financial services sector and associated regulatory bodies have been very active to help overcome trade barriers. Regulatory barriers in the US and E are seen as a major issue that could be addressed and overcome by the TTIP agreement. Interestingly privacy issues are not normally included in trade agreements. This will be a challenge for the TTIP committee to integrate these measures into the agreement as no previous structure exists. Today the EU/ Korea trade agreement is seen as the “latest and greatest” and TTIP will use this as a starting point to draft the new agreement. It is estimated that that once implemented TTIP could boost the UK’s GDP by 0.5%.
How will TTIP impact you? Well if your business is in the digital IT, creative industries or financial services it could have a significant impact on the regulation and IP protection in your industry. You have the opportunity to contribute views and lobby the TTIP committee on your views and make them aware of current trade blocks. How can you do this? Contact your professional industry body or trade association and find what they are doing to represent your sector in the TTIP agreement.
For further information about this article or for a confidential, no obligation discussion on how this could impact your business please contact Mike Campbell, Managing Director on +44 7771 615641 or mike@campbell.pwebs.co.uk. Or further information regarding Campbell Ventures please refer to campbell.pwebs.co.uk and www.china-business-experts.com.