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Letter to US and EU Leaders on Trade Negotiations

The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States of America
The White House
Washington, DC 20500
 
Mr. José-Manuel Barroso
President of the European Commission
The Berlaymont Building
Brussels, Belgium B-1049
 
Mr. Herman Van Rompuy
President of the European Council
Justus Lipsius Building
Brussels, Belgium B-1048
 
Dear President Obama, Mr. Barroso, and Mr. Van Rompuy:
 
Our organizations are writing to express our continued strong support for the High-Level Working Group on Jobs and Growth (HLWG) and its work to deepen the transatlantic economic and commercial relationship. Now is the time for both the United States and the European Union (EU) to demonstrate their ability to move forward concretely and to take the bold step of launching negotiations next year on an ambitious and comprehensive U.S.-EU trade, investment, and regulatory cooperation agreement.
 
The U.S.-EU commercial relationship is deep and mutual advantageous, generating more than $5 trillion in sales annually. We can do more, and indeed must do more to help both the United States and the EU overcome their fiscal and macroeconomic challenges at home and maintain our competitiveness in the worldwide economy. The launch of negotiations would send a strong signal that the United States and the EU are serious about market liberalization and rules-based trade and also engaging third countries on those issues.
 
To succeed in generating the economic growth and job creation needed in both the United States and Europe, the HLWG should put forward an ambitious and comprehensive framework to eliminate tariffs, reduce non-tariff barriers, and liberalize trade in goods and services. It should also promote investment, open government procurement, increase regulatory cooperation, enhance ongoing cooperation on intellectual property protection, and establish 21st century rules. These rules would stand to strengthen the international competitiveness of U.S. and European companies of all sizes, create significant employment opportunities, and reinforce the international trading system and its rules and standards.
 
This effort should be based on an effective dialogue with the private sector. Because our economies are already so deeply integrated, the private sector understands the issues which need to be covered in the negotiations. Close consultation will help ensure the final agreement succeeds in generating economic growth and job creation on both sides of the Atlantic.
 
We are committed to doing our part in working with you to move such negotiations forward and to ensure their success.
 
Sincerely,
 
See PDF for signatures

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