Activist Group Chides Weak Environmental Protections in TTIP Talks
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership aims to sacrifice environmental protections across the Atlantic, and the pact illustrates the close-knit relationship between U.S. negotiators and big business, particularly in the services sector, said Michelle Chan, director of economic policy at Friends of the Earth. The association, a global activist network, issued a statement on Sept. 30 to coincide with a Coalition of Services Industries event on the same day, as well as the outset of the 7th round of TTIP negotiations, launched on Sept. 29 outside Washington, D.C. “The TTIP round coincides with a corporate confab today, and illustrates the political ‘revolving door’ between top U.S. trade officials and corporate lobbyists,” said the association in the statement. The statement emphasized U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman’s background as a Citigroup executive and a player in President Barack Obama’s campaign.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
Meanwhile, Trade Promotion Authority passage is unlikely in the foreseeable future because it would relinquish congressional influence over trade policy, said the statement. “It would delegate the constitutional authority of Congress to make trade policy to a U.S. Trade Representative who, by background and mindset, responds to financiers and corporate chieftains rather than ordinary people,” said Chan. TPA advocates regularly champion the legislation as a means to allow Congress to define its negotiating objectives (see 14061709).