US-EU must put back faith into TTIP deal

 
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the US and European Union (EU) has apparently been hit by trust deficit and there are signs that will be dragged out.
Germany and France have showed a joint front to oppose the proposed deal as it stands today. The most stinging remark came from France’s junior trade minister Matthias Fekl, who said, “The Americans give nothing or just crumbs…that is not how negotiations are done between allies.” Germany’s vice chancellor and economy minister Sigmar Gabriel was equally caustic when he remarked, “We Europeans must not succumb to American demands.”
Even though the US would try to fast-track the pact by sending its top trade official to Europe in the coming weeks, it is unlikely that the talks on the accord will move ahead before the American elections and even stay in limbo till the French and German elections end in 2017.
Some feel the timing of pushing the TTIP has been wrong and the leaders are sacrificing the deal keeping the election campaign in view. Others say the pact is tilted towards the US. The deal detractors contend that the agreement would only help the multinationals and affect the consumers severely. The most contentious areas are trade in agricultural goods, food safety and regulatory standards between governments and investors. US cholorine-washed chicken and GM corn have triggered fears and objections. Critics smell capitalism in the deal as they feel it makes the MNCs unaccountable to governments and compromises on product standards. The anti-free trade activists also cite secrecy and non-transparency as the pact’s lacunae.
The EU suspicion over the TTIP is deepening. Britain could have removed some of these doubts by playing the role of a mediator between EU and US. However, Brexit has undercut US position in convincing the EU about the far reaching benefits of TTIP. A recent paper from the Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich underlines that TTIP may spike Europe’s per capita GDP by 0.4 percent, while that of US to 0.5 percent. It will also create export-dependent jobs.
Benefits apart, the TTIP will usher in a new era of large-scale liberalized trade zone, reducing the tariff and non-tariff barriers. It will create the world’s largest free market of some 800 million people.
The US and EU have to put faith back into TTIP. Leaders from both the sides must sit together and plug the loopholes. The US has to make some justified changes so that it is a win-win deal for both. It has to assure EU on smooth settlement of investor disputes and address the food safety concerns. Its flexibility can prevent the deal from getting doomed. Similarly, EU leaders must soften their hard stance so that the pact doesn’t get bogged down in scaremongering. Fairness and harmonizing of standards should be cornerstone of any agreement, and TTIP must follow the same principle.
The EU-Canada deal ran into rough weather, before it was salvaged after the two sides joined hands. It is now just days from final ratification. TTIP too can clear the growing roadblocks if the US and EU take a balanced view and don’t lose sight of the bigger picture.