Transparency in the United States

Transparency, Anticorruption and Competition: the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) with the European Union

For U.S. businesses to compete in the global market, they must have clear, predictable laws and regulations that are administered by officials who are not subject to undue influence. That is why we are seeking commitments in T-TIP to publish promptly all laws, regulations, administrative rulings and other procedures that affect trade and investment. We will also seek opportunities for interested parties to learn about and provide meaningful input on measures before they are adopted and finalized.

Corruption distorts competition and often prevents the public from receiving the highest quality goods and services. Accordingly, we have sought to ensure that our trade agreements include appropriate provisions to address corruption, and we will be doing so in the the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations. We and the EU also agree that the sound and effective enforcement of competition law is a matter of importance to the efficient operation of our respective markets and trade between them. Competitive markets provide the environment necessary for entrepreneurship and innovation, protects against anticompetitive behavior that distort market outcomes, and helps consumers obtain more innovative, high-quality goods and services at lower prices.

Transparency and the Obama Trade Agenda

Through our trade policy, we are focused on expanding opportunities to export more Made-in-America products, support jobs at home, and create economic growth by opening overseas markets and leveling the playing field for American workers and businesses. As we work to open markets to support more American jobs, an important part of that work is keeping the public, Congress, and a diverse array of stakeholders engaged and informed. We believe that public participation, Congressional input, and an open national debate enhance trade policy.

The Obama Administration has taken unprecedented steps to increase transparency and diversify the voices involved in America’s trade policy. Those steps have resulted in more public dialogue and outreach on trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) than on any other free trade agreements in history. To date, those steps have included:

A MORE ROBUST PUBLIC CONVERSATION

The Administration is working to cast a wide net to draw in the views of the public and to share information at every step of the negotiating process. To that end, for the negotiations currently ongoing, the Administration has:

Solicited public comments on negotiation aims, priorities and concerns, including through the Federal Register.
Held public hearings inviting input on the negotiations.
Organized first-of-a-kind stakeholder events where the negotiations are suspended so that a diverse group of stakeholders can meet with negotiators. These sessions are open to the public and provide a valuable opportunity for U.S. negotiators to hear and respond to critiques and suggestions.
Shared information on the current status of negotiations through blog posts, trade policy updates, press releases, statements, conference calls with stakeholders and the press, and tweets.

PUTTING OUR OBJECTIVES FRONT AND CENTER

The USTR website includes information – in plain English – that will help the public understand our core objectives and priorities in trade negotiations, including:

Detailed summaries of negotiation priorities on TPP and T-TIP.
Fact sheets on key negotiation topics.
Press conferences following negotiating rounds.
Recaps of negotiating rounds.

WORKING HAND-IN-HAND WITH CONGRESS, THE PEOPLE’S REPRESENTATIVES

The administration has worked closely with the people’s representatives in Congress as we pursue our ambitious trade agenda. This has included:

Providing access to the full TPP negotiating texts for any Member of Congress, including for Members to view at their convenience in the Capitol, accompanied by staff members with appropriate security clearance.
Holding nearly 1,700 Congressional briefings on TPP alone, and many more on T-TIP, TPA, AGOA and other initiatives.
Providing Members of Congress with plain English summaries of TPP chapters to assist Members in navigating the negotiating text.
Previewing U.S. proposals with Congressional committees before taking them to the negotiations.
Working with Congress to update them on the state of the negotiations and get feedback every step of the way.

HEARING FROM MORE DIVERSE INTERESTS

Congress established a system of Advisory Committees to get input from affected industries. The Obama Administration has grown the size and membership of our trade advisory committees to add voices that were initially left out of the process. In doing so we have worked to ensure strong representation from:

Labor unions,
Environmental groups,
Faith organizations,
Public health and consumer advocates,
Consumer organizations,
Local and state officials,
Farmers, ranchers, small business, and many more diverse interests.

These advisors receive full and equal access to U.S. negotiating proposals and work with our negotiators in an interactive process that includes regular updates on the negotiations, the opportunity to review U.S. proposals before they are tabled, and the chance to provide meaningful input into negotiating proposals and decisions. Over the past year, USTR has been soliciting additional nominations for candidates to further represent labor and non-industry interests, as well as further representatives of agriculture, services, and other sectors of the economy. We welcome additional participants and are open to new ideas on how we can expand input.

We are always looking for new ways to engage the public and to seek views that will help inform and guide our trade policy, and enhancing transparency will remain a priority, consistent with the ability to deliver on our ultimate mission, which is to deliver agreements that achieve the maximum possible benefit for the American people. That’s our focus.

Stakeholder Consultations, Investment and the T-TIP

We view engagement with Congress, stakeholders, and the public to be a central component for ensuring that our trade policy is consistent with both our economic interests and our values. We have taken an approach of extensive consultation in developing U.S. proposals regarding investment in our negotiations. We continue to solicit feedback on this, and other issues, to ensure that the United States – and our trading partners – can regulate in the public interest while creating stable frameworks for protecting investments.

As both the largest single-country source of investment and the largest recipient of investment in the world, the United States has every reason to get investment agreements right.

Unfortunately, there is a large amount of misunderstanding in the public debate regarding ISDS, which we have addressed here. We believe an open and ongoing public debate will help assuage concerns and lead to a better policy.

As part of our ongoing consultations, the United States has published and sought public comment on our model investment agreement, which we use as a basis for our international investment agreement proposals. The U.S. model agreement has been developed, reviewed, and revised through years of extensive consultations with the Congress, stakeholders, and the public, and represents a balance among diverse policy interests.

The most recent review of the U.S. model investment agreement took place during 2009-2012. Follow the links below to see some of the elements from our public consultative process, which include:

A Federal Register notice soliciting public views on the model agreement. Written comments were submitted by 36 individuals and organizations, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs), business groups, Members of Congress, individual companies, and private citizens.

A public meeting at which interested parties were invited to present views on the model agreement. Presenters at this meeting included legislators, NGOs, business organizations, individual companies, and legal professionals.

Recommendations from the State Department’s Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy (ACIEP), an Investment Subcommittee which was constituted for the purpose of providing input on the model U.S. investment agreement. The Subcommittee – comprised of representatives from academia, labor groups, environmental and public interest organizations, legal experts, and the business community – presented a report that contained both consensus recommendations and detailed summaries of divergent viewpoints on the major issues addressed in international investment agreements, including definitions of key terms, substantive standards and obligations, and the rules and procedures for investor-state dispute settlement.

Extensive consultation on our negotiating objectives for T-TIP specifically, including with respect to investment. As we do for all trade agreements, including the TPP agreement, prior to launching T-TIP negotiations, USTR initiated a 90-day consultation period involving numerous opportunities for comment. As part of these consultations, USTR solicited public comment on T-TIP negotiating objectives generally, and specifically on “relevant investment issues that should be addressed in the negotiations.” Over 300 submissions were received in response to this notice, representing a broad range of stakeholder views.

T-TIP consultations included a two-day hearing, during which members of the public were invited to express views on T-TIP policy issues and negotiating objectives. Over 60 organizations and individuals presented testimony at this hearing, including several who spoke directly to investment issues.

Extensive public consultations conducted by the U.S.-EU High Level Working Group on Jobs and Growth (HLWG) were conducted in advance of launching the T-TIP negotiations. Dozens of submissions were received from members of the public in response to USTR’s request for comment during the HLWG process, including several that spoke directly to investment rules, and USTR negotiators discussed investment with stakeholders in dozens of meetings.

These issue-specific consultations on investment policy and T-TIP, respectively, have been supplemented by a formal advisory committee system established by Congress through which USTR receives stakeholder input on an ongoing basis on all aspects of U.S. trade policy and negotiations. Representing labor, environmental, business, and state and local government interests, these 28 committees of 700 private citizen advisors provide input and advice on the full range of trade policy issues, including in the T-TIP – a stakeholder advisory system that has no parallel in the world. The valuable input of this advisory system will be soon be supplemented by a new Public Interest Trade Advisory Committee (PITAC) that will provide a mechanism for regular input from experts on issues such as public health, development, and consumer safety. USTR is currently soliciting nominations for membership on the PITAC, as well as on our Industry Trade Advisory Committees, so that we can continue to receive stakeholder advice during negotiations.

The consultations the Administration has undertaken in the development of international investment policy and negotiating positions with respect to T-TIP, and the ongoing engagement through the formal advisory committee system, only account for a portion of the day-to-day engagement with stakeholders, legislators, and members of the public that USTR undertakes on a regular basis. For example, we have created forums around our negotiating rounds to provide stakeholders with an opportunity to provide input directly to negotiators from the United States and other countries.

In the coming months, we will continue to maintain the high level of inclusiveness and public engagement that have been a hallmark of U.S. trade negotiations. We recently released a detailed description and explanation of U.S. objectives in the T-TIP negotiations and we are currently soliciting additional public input to USTR on all aspects of our trade policy, including T-TIP.