USTR Pushing EU To Raise de Minimis Through TTIP
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is continuing its push for the EU to boost its de minimis level for imports to the equivalent of the U.S. threshold of $800, a spokesperson for the USTR said in an email. “We want the EU to increase their de minimis for goods trade (currently 150 euros) to our level of $800,” the spokesperson said. Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Dan Mullaney was in Brussels last week for the 14th round of negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, where he said that a higher de minimis was an efficiency achievable through the pact.
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Increased electronic customs filings and institution of localized, pre-shipment pharmaceutical testing procedures, are among other streamlined programs that could be achieved through the pact, he said. "Facilitating trade by our small and medium-sized enterprises is a top goal of T-TIP and we believe that an increase in the de minimis level at which shipments are subject to duties and customs formalities and fees is one of easiest and best ways to do that and a practical step of enormous significance in the real economy," Mullaney said (here) While a proposed Customs and Trade Facilitation chapter of the TTIP released by the EU didn't include mention of de minimis, industry members previously said it was among the issues being considered (see 1604120001).
The U.S. and EU have proposed texts for most sectors as part of TTIP negotiations, and will pitch the rest of the texts “in the coming weeks,” Mullaney said. He called for the EU to work alongside the U.S. in tackling technical trade barriers, including those that prevent U.S. labs from testing products for the EU market and U.S. stakeholders from helping the EU develop standards, “both of which the United States already allows EU laboratories and EU stakeholders to do for the U.S. market,” Mullaney said. Furthermore, the entry into force of the U.S.-EU Privacy Shield, which governs data transfers between the two entities, should facilitate discussions between the entities on data flows and locations of computing facilities. The negotiating partners last week developed provisions for several industries, including autos, pharmaceuticals and medical devices (see 1607140019), Mullaney said. The European Commission didn’t comment.
Additionally, Mullaney touted the U.S. government procurement proposal, saying it’s the “most ambitious procurement offer” the U.S. has proposed for any trade agreement. The U.S. last week also pitched proposals on TTIP trade defense, financial services, textiles, state-owned enterprises, regulatory practices, and legal and institutional provisions, Mullaney said July 15. “We believe fundamentally that an ambitious T-TIP agreement is achievable in 2016, and that remains the goal of the United States,” he said. “But completing these negotiations will require significant political will and a creative, pragmatic approach to problem-solving on both sides to get this done. As President Obama emphasized at the Hannover trade fair in April and again last week in Warsaw, the United States -- for its part -- is prepared to make every effort to complete the negotiations this year.”