The talks about a transatlantic trade and investment partnership (TTIP), which started with optimism in 2013, are now in the freezer writes Rem Korteweg. As long as US President Donald Trump continues his protectionist and anti-EU message, they will stay there. But in a new CER policy brief ‘Unfreezing TTIP: Why a transatlantic trade pact still makes strategic sense’, Rem Korteweg argues that since Trump and the EU have not formally cancelled the talks, TTIP could still be brought in from the cold.

Europe and the United States have a shared interest in countries like China respecting international trade rules and not distorting markets. A transatlantic trade deal could boost Western economic influence, and in the process, help rein in China’s illiberal trading practices.

Korteweg argues that a US-EU trade deal would:
• deepen transatlantic co-operation at a time when the notion of ‘the West’ is increasingly in question;
• help push back against illiberal trade practices and strengthen the rules-based global trading order at a time when protectionism is on the rise;
• promote a Western view of trade on the global level; a view based on open markets and high levels of consumer protection, guaranteed by the rule of law; and
• help to create the conditions for co-operation, not competition, with China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ project and strengthen incentives for domestic reforms in China.

Trump’s anti-trade rhetoric and his appointment of free trade sceptics to senior positions in his administration offer a convenient excuse to European leaders to discontinue the trade talks. But Korteweg warns that they should use this pause to try to win European public support for free trade. European governments need to take ownership of the debate on trade liberalisation; see trade negotiations as a campaign; and not shy away from publicly arguing the strategic merits of a deal.

Commenting, Korteweg said:
“The EU is looking for ways to deal with the downside of globalisation. Despite differences of opinion between Europe and Trump on trade, a transatlantic deal on new trade rules and common standards still makes strategic sense. But Europe has some homework to do if it wants to deliver one.”

The full report can be downloaded from http://www.cer.org.uk/publications/archive/policy-brief/2017/unfreezing-ttip-why-transatlantic-trade-pact-still-makes

Rem Korteweg is head of the Europe in the World Unit at the Clingendael Institute and used to work for the centre for european reform (CER). More information can be found at www.cer.org.uk