TTIP: EU, US trade deal not dead yet

Govts across Europe. Washington and Brussels were committed to sealing TTIP before President Obama leaves office

BRUSSELS: A much-debated trade deal between the European Union (EU) and the United States is not dead and negotiations will continue with the new US administration after November’s elections, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said on Saturday. “A similar agreement between the EU and Canada can finally be signed on Sunday after resistance from Belgian local governments led to a last-minute blockade of the agreement which was seven years in the making. Both TTIP and CETA have sparked demonstrations by unions and protest groups who say the agreements will lead to a ‘race to the bottom’ in labour, environmental and public health standards and allow big business to challenge democratically-elected governments across Europe. Washington and Brussels were committed to sealing TTIP before President Barack Obama leaves office in January, but both sides now recognize that this will not happen.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 30^th, 2016.

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