A peek at what the USTR will be doing for the next couple of days:
USTR Press Week Ahead: May 20-24 | Office of the United States Trade Representative
Why on earth would Ambassador Sapiro meet with the head of the Motion Picture Association? Er, well, as it happens, France doesn’t want its creative and cultural centers included in TTIP talks and threatened to block negotiations: France threatens to block start of EU/U.S. free trade talks | Reuters. Perhaps it’s no surprise that David Cameron took the opposite tack: Cameron wants all sectors covered by EU-US FTA – RTÉ News, well because that’s what France and England do, they oppose each other – Hundred Years War, Henry V, Salic Law and all that… but it would seem the UK has found an odd ally in its traditional opposition to France: The Motion Picture Association of America. Perhaps today the MPAA will convince Ambassador Sapiro with the same argumentation they forwarded to Doug Bell, Chairman of the Trade Policy Staff Committee: http://www.mpaa.org/Resources/b498a946-62dd-4669-b570-1432ff7838a6.pdf. But what on earth is Chris Dodd doing there? Well, Chris Dodd found the revolving door that leads from Congress to the lobbying frontier. Dodd currently heads the MPAA, and in that capacity represents six Hollywood studios: Walt Disney, Paramount, Sony Entertainment, 20th Century Fox, Universal City Studios, and Warner Brothers. France, surely you have nothing to fear. Nothing to see here, move along… the session is closed, so we can’t see anything anyway. Onto the future, tomorrow with the USTR…
…Ambassador Sapiro will meet with David Fares, Senior Vice President for Government Affairs for News Corporation. News Corporation, by the way, just did a little reorganizing and upgrading recently, so as to heft up their lobbying efforts. No doubt in anticipation of the long discussed and eagerly awaited TTIP negotiations: News Corporation. France, really, you have nothing to worry about…Murdoch’s embattled News Corp faces TV piracy claims – AUSTRALIA – FRANCE 24. Chris Dodd is all about that piracy thing. The session is closed anyway, so we can’t see anything anyhow. Back to the USTR’s busy day tomorrow, to the “event” whatever that means, entitled:
“Writing the Rules for 21st Century Trade: New Solutions for Old Problems in the Trans-Pacific and Transatlantic Negotiations” co-hosted by the International Food and Agricultural Trade Policy Council and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.”
Ooh, there’s a good idea – streamlining and coordinating the goals for the TransAtlantic Trade Agreement AND the TransPacific Trade Agreement. Why regard these agreements as somehow separate, distinct, or unrelated to one another in any way or, I dunno, sovereign?
At any rate, it’s a good thing IPC is on the scene with its policy areas “To promote a more equitable global food system,” with its “ongoing focus on the importance of access to markets.” It’s not like “market access” is a big deal in the EU right now, with respect to agriculture that is:
Some background: Overhaul of E.U. Seed Regulations Triggers Protests – ScienceInsider.
And what it kinda looks like now: All About the New EU Seed Law | NationofChange
It looks like the EU is in need of some bureaucracy-busting. Lucky for them, the TTIP does just that according to EU Commission President Jose Manuel Borroso’s statement from last December – 80% of TTIP benefits “come from reducing the regulatory burden and bureaucracy, and it’s an agreement that goes well beyond tariffs, it also covers services and procurements. So it’s an agreement of a new type that I believe can be of extreme importance, for the United States and for global trade.”
My, but that’s compelling. Maybe this TransAtlantic liberalization is all for the best; it’s a multi-trillion dollar win-win Borroso also described as a “ground-breaking game-changer” that would “serve as a boost to our economies that does not cost a cent of taxpayer money.” US, EU Will Forge ‘Historic’ Free Trade Agreement | Global Trade Magazine
No taxpayer money? Gee, that’s swell. Probably a game-changer. That’s all you really need to know about the TTIP: It won’t cost anybody anything.
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