Skip ITR banner
The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. logo and tagline - Essential information. Expert analysis. International Trade Reporter Home Page
BNA HomeProduct CatalogContact BNAAbout BNASearchFREE Trials!
Skip left navigation
ITR Home Page
Table of Contents
Top Story Archive
Sample Issue
Current Report Archive
Export Reference Manual
Import Reference Manual
Decisions
Feedback
WTO Ministerial Draft
ITR Free Trial

Home > Top Story Archive > August 6, 2009

Top Story

The following story is from the August 6 issue of International Trade Reporter
Current Reports:

Environment

U.S. Business Groups Urge Obama to Pursue
Pact Eliminating Barriers to Clean Technology

A number of leading U.S. business organizations have called on the Obama administration to press forward with the negotiation of an agreement at the World Trade Organization or through any other appropriate forum that would reduce or eliminate tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade in environmentally friendly goods and services.

But industry sources said Aug. 3 that U.S. trade officials, in informal discussions, have expressed reluctance at pursuing the completion of a plurilateral WTO agreement involving some but not all WTO members, such as the 1996 Information Technology Agreement (ITA), arguing that such an initiative could compromise the chances of success in the Doha Round of WTO trade talks.

The business organizations said in a letter to President Obama dated July 30 that lowering trade barriers to so-called green goods and services would benefit the U.S. economy and efforts to tackle global climate change.

“We strongly urge you to pursue a swift conclusion of a comprehensive Environmental Goods and Services Agreement through all appropriate international economic and international forums,” the groups wrote in the letter released Aug. 3.

APEC, OECD for Interim Commitments

The letter said that the Doha Round was “one appropriate forum” but it called for the exploration of alternative or complementary efforts, including a plurilateral agreement at the WTO or the initiation of negotiations via another forum.

“We believe that either the Forum on Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) or the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which have initiated important work on reducing barriers to green goods and services, could serve as the basis for interim commitments in advance of an agreement at the WTO,” the letter said.

The letter was signed by the National Foreign Trade Council, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Coalition for Service Industries, Emergency Committee for American Trade, Information Technology Industry Council, National Manufacturers Association, Organization for International Investment, Business Council for Sustainable Energy, and Retail Industry Leaders Association.

A report issued by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative earlier this year—“The President's Trade Policy Agenda”—said that the Obama administration would like to “build on” the environmental goods and services negotiations that were initiated at the launch of the Doha Round in 2001, “whether at the WTO or in other negotiating arenas.”

‘Breaking Off Pieces' of Doha

But Jeremy Preiss, chief international trade counsel for United Technologies Corp., who has also been tapped to serve as corporate chairman of a new Trade and Climate Working Group, told reporters Aug. 3 that USTR officials have privately expressed concern over pursuing an ITA-like plurilateral agreement on trade in environmentally friendly goods and services, arguing that it could hasten the unravelling of the already fragile WTO talks.

Preiss said that there is some reluctance in the Obama administration at “breaking off pieces” of the WTO negotiations—even if there is broad support for the concept of lowering barriers to trade in so-called green goods and services. He said that defining the universe of products and services that would be covered under such an agreement would be a major challenge, and that China would have to be part of the process for it to succeed.

Jake Colvin, vice president for global trade issues at the National Foreign Trade Council, said that the European Union has also expressed strong support pursuing such an agreement and, like the Obama administration, has noted the possibility of doing so outside of the WTO.

Colvin said that U.S. companies do not believe that the negotiations should take place in an environmental forum. But he said that the issue should be raised and supported in the context of the ongoing international negotiations on climate change, including the Conference of Parties (COP) 15 in Copenhagen, Denmark, this December, held under the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC), which is expected to result in an international agreement on climate change policies.

Preserving Incentives to Invest

The letter to President Obama from the NFTC and eight other U.S. business associations said that, in their view, international climate change discussions should reflect the importance of lowering trade barriers as part an effort to make available clean technologies to developing countries.

“As international climate change negotiators seek to agree upon a range of policies to help developing countries finance and adopt clean technologies, promoting the utility of lowering trade barriers on green goods and services should be a key component of a U.S. approach,” the letter said. “This approach should also facilitate the deployment of technology while preserving in full the incentives for U.S. companies to invest in the development of new solutions. Promoting trade and protecting intellectual property rights in green technologies are of paramount importance if we are to enable the creation of new solutions to climate change and green jobs in the United States.”

But the letter expressed disappointment that congressional efforts to provide a framework for exporting clean technology—including through the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009—have failed to include any mention of global trade in environmentally friendly goods and services.

“Emphasizing the importance of an international environmental goods and services agreement in domestic legislation would enhance legislative efforts to deliver clean technologies to the developing world,” the letter said. “We hope that you and your administration will work with Congress to generate clear signals of support for lower trade barriers, which can help to reinforce a positive message on lowering green tariffs to the international community.”

Preiss, of United Technologies, said that U.S. companies have become increasingly concerned over suggestions by China, India, and Brazil that they may be interested seeking to weaken existing intellectual property protection rules in the context of international climate change negotiations as a way to gain greater access to Western clean technology.

By Gary G. Yerkey

Contact the Webmaster at webmaster@bna.com
 1801 S. Bell Street, Arlington, VA 22202 - Phone: 1-800-372-1033

Copyright © The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. All Rights Reserved.