On July 19, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Miriam Sapiro met with Malcolm Harbour, Chairman of the European Parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO) and Peter Skinner, a member of the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee. The discussion centered on ways in which the United States and the European Union (E.U.) can cooperate on regulatory issues to prevent future disputes over conflicting standards, saving time and money for businesses. Ambassador Sapiro also welcomed further engagement with the European Parliament on transatlantic issues, including helping small and medium-sized enterprises to find business opportunities abroad and create new jobs in both economies. Both sides remain optimistic about prospects for the Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC), which brings together regulators and policy-makers from both sides of the Atlantic.
The U.S. economic relationship with the European Union’s 27 member-states is the largest and most complex in the world, generating trade and investment flows of about $2.7 billion a day and supporting 14 million jobs. The E.U. represents the #1 export market for the U.S., and merchandise exports of American goods to the E.U. are up 4.4% this year (as of May 2010).
