The first event that took place was in the Swedish Embassy in DC. One of the most beautiful embassies I have ever seen! The conference took place in the House of Sweden whose walls are made of glass which brightens up the room immensely, and giving an amazing view to the Potomac River. The atmosphere authentically reminds of being in a summer house on the country side next to a lake in Sweden.
The topic was "T-TIP: Towards Transatlantic Regulatory Cooperation". The panel was pretty big and the two VIP speakers were Dan Mullaney, Assistant United States Trade Representative for Europe and the Middle East at the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), and Hiddo Houben, Head of Trade Section of the Delegation of the European Union to the United States.
Hiddo is a great laid back and extremely humorous speaker. His natural character brought some fresh wind into the usually serious and tight panels. However, even though the event was off-the-record, all of the panelists still stayed general and kind of superficial in their argumentation. I hoped to see some more heat and energy, but that is maybe expected too much since the speakers still have to stay professional.
What I learned from the event is that the regulatory differences between the EU and the U.S. will be one of the biggest challenges to compromise on for the T-TIP negotiations. I even see myself disagreeing to adapt to American standards because I think the European ones are more environmental and consumer friendly.
I feel proud of our regulations, and I feel that the U.S. could actually learn from our policies.
In the end it will be a matter of who is willing to approach the other side first...and then we can talk about finalizing a free-trade deal!
The second event was organized by WITA and we hosted a panel discussing 'Latin America Trade Update'. Latin America is a region that has a lot of potential geographic, and resource, wise. The speakers represented Chile, Peru, Mexico and the U.S. The hot topics were the Transpacific Partnership (TPP) that includes amongst others the U.S., Peru, Mexico and Chile, as well as the Pacific Alliance, also known as the Pacific Pumas, and including Mexico, Peru, Chile and Colombia.
One of the most crucial statements to me was made by the representative of the Economic department of the Embassy of Chile who said that Chile has a lot of copper, but what is missing is the capacity and technology, present in the U.S. or Europe, to produce wires that are sold more expensive than the raw material. Therefore, he concluded that what Latin America needs is technological progress and development in order to produce the more expensive product in the end to make more profit as well.
Regarding the Pacific Alliance I recently read this statement:
"Chile has the climate and infrastructure to make great wine but let's say the Mexicans make the best fertilizer, the Colombians develop a more efficient way of making glass and the Peruvians have found a way to design and produce the best labels and corks. If Chilean winemakers buy the Mexican fertilizer and link up with Colombia's glass makers and Peru's label makers, together, they can produce a better, less expensive bottle of wine. Alliances like this, which encourage countries or states to develop more efficient value chains, are Latin America's best and only chance of competing in Asia."
This situation might be idealized, but the idea seems right. Latin America has great potential, it only needs the right leadership and trading partners to make the best out of it for its own population!
The third event took place in the Finnish Embassy hosting Prof. Alexander Stubb who is in my view the Finnish version of Barack Obama. Stubb is extremely charismatic, very sophisticated and likes to argue with metaphors. Here some of his quotes I found amusing:
"Trade was not sexy three years ago."
“Economic predictions are to make astrologists look good.”
“The EU is a powerhouse.”
“The EU does not need to regulate everything.”
He explained that the EU has become "highly politicized", and he illustrated that "if you give the EU parliament the little finger, it will take the whole hand".
After the event there was a reception and I got the chance to talk a little to Prof. Stubb. He was very friendly and and showed interest in having a short conversation with an annoying and super excited student like me!
The following event I prepared, organized and attended was again hosted by WITA. It was called "Update on TPP: The End-Game Dynamics Explained". The Keynote Address was given by Congressman Charles Boustany who is highly in favor of completing the Transpacific Partnership (TPP). He claimed that "TPP will create American jobs" and he is convinced that TPP will boost the American economy. He is convinced that "trade is a source of strength and an engine of growth for America".
I found nice to see that Boustany made the impression to be a very humble person. When he entered the conference room, he arrived by himself without any security or Hill staff clan. I welcomed him and he was very friendly and charming. In the end the so called prominent people also simply cook with the same water like we do.
My last event that I helped organize with WITA was "Trade 101 on the Hill: Reflection on Current FTA's"(Free Trade Agreements) and it took place on the Hill in the House of Ways and Means room. The panel discussed current free trade negotiations including the TPP and the T-TIP in comparison to already existing ones for instance North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Questions that arose were about the overall impact of FTA's, which FTA's had the best impact on businesses, which reasons there are to oppose FTA's or how we can use current FTA's to shape future ones. The panelists were able to give a good insight on how to define clearly FTA's. They argued that opening up and liberalizing markets does not automatically mean that unemployment will rise and that jobs will be outsourced. They explained that unemployment and outsourcing does not originate from free trade but from economic circumstances.
Hhhmmmmm.....interesting point........?!
The last event I attended was at the Greek Embassy offering an immense and diverse breakfast buffet. Seeing it I did not feel at all that this country has been suffering from a financial crisis but apparently the Greeks want to keep their reputation of hospitality.
The panelists were discussing the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Treaty. The panel included amongst others Everett Eissenstatt (Senate Finance Committee), Angela Ellard (House of Ways and Means), Hiddo Houben (EU Delegation) and Dan Hamilton (Center for Transatlantic Relations) who recently published the Transatlantic Economy 2014 Report.
Dan Hamilton's address focused on facts and numbers and I was surprised when he said that China has accounted for just 1.2% of total global U.S. investment since the start of this century! He compared that U.S. investment in the Netherlands was more than 14 times larger, and in the UK it was more than 10 times larger and even in Ireland it was more than 6 times larger than in China! These are striking numbers!
Angela Ellard and Everett Eissenstatt absolutely argued in favor of T-TIP and free trade agreements in general. I cannot go into detail here since they were off-the-record. The representative of the EU, Hiddo Houben, offered some trouble to the American representatives by insisting on Europe's stance to pass T-TIP only if the EU's environmental, agricultural and consumer protection standards are kept! I was very happy to hear that!
After the event I got the chance to talk to Hiddo and I told him that I got very relieved when hearing that the EU is not willing to lower its standards.
Of course he felt flattered :)
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