By Roya Stephens, Office of Public and Media Affairs
This week, Acting U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis spoke at the Capitol Hill launch of the Business Coalition for Transatlantic Trade (BCTT), a coalition of companies and multi-sector industry organizations created by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to build support for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Ambassador Marantis joined Members of Congress, Congressional committee staffers, members of the European Parliament, and business organizations at the event, and offered his outlook on the prospects of the planned agreement in his remarks.
The proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership seeks to strengthen the U.S.-EU economic relationship, support new jobs, spur economic growth, and boost competitiveness on both sides of the Atlantic. Ambassador Marantis discussed some of the shared U.S. and EU objectives for the proposed agreement, including elimination of tariffs, reduction of regulatory and non-tariff barriers, and provisions that address emerging challenges for global trade. Ambassador Marantis closed by expressing his conviction that the U.S. and EU economic relationship could be an even more productive source of trade, jobs, and growth if the TTIP negotiations are successful.
The U.S.-EU economic relationship accounts for one-third of total goods and services trade and nearly half of global economic output. A successfully negotiated TTIP would boost economic growth in the U.S. and the EU and add to the more than 13 million American and European jobs already supported by transatlantic trade and investment. The partnership would also further open markets to increase the $459 billion in U.S. goods and services exported to the EU, address non-tariff barriers that impede goods and services trade, and promote transparency and cooperation in regulations and standards. To learn more about the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, click here. To learn more about the Business Coalition of Transatlantic Trade, please visit its website here.
