Inside Trade

October 11, 2025

Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership

Scholz’ party wants EU to use TTC as platform for talks to lower tariffs

Lawmakers in Germany’s Social Democratic Party, led by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, plan to call on the European Union to use the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council as a platform for opening talks to lower tariffs between the two trading partners, according to a draft position paper by the lawmakers. The Jan. 9 draft, obtained by Inside U.S. Trade , sets out “a forward-looking European industrial strategy” that includes reforms to the bloc’s rules on state subsidies and increased EU...

Outside voices: TTIP 2.0 eyed for a plethora of benefits

Want to solve many of the world’s biggest, most vexing problems? Dust off an old idea, say two Brookings Institution analysts – the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. Sanjay Patnaik, director of the think tank’s Center on Regulations and Markets, and senior research associate James Kunhardt write this week that a free trade deal between the U.S. and the European Union could help fight inflation, “mitigate” a recession and bolster allied efforts to combat Russian aggression. “A TTIP successor would...

Taiwan applies to join CPTPP

Taiwan has applied to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership less than a week after China submitted its own bid, Taiwan’s Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Chen Chern-chyi said on Wednesday, according to reports. Bloomberg first reported on Wednesday that Taiwan had sent a formal application to join the pact to New Zealand, the depositary for the agreement. China sent its application to New Zealand last week. Taiwan plans to announce it has applied and provide additional...

CPTPP members meet to discuss post-pandemic recovery, possible expansion

The 11 members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership were scheduled to meet on Wednesday to discuss pandemic-related relief efforts as well as the possibility of adding new members. Mexico is hosting the virtual meeting. Mexican Economy Minister Graciela Márquez wrote in an op-ed this week that the members will consider “the possibility to broaden the deal to include new members.” The United Kingdom has expressed significant interest in joining CPTPP, as have other countries. The U.S...

Trudeau picks former trade negotiator to serve as ambassador to the U.S.

Kirsten Hillman, who helped negotiate the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, has been named ambassador to the U.S., Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Thursday. Hillman has been serving as acting ambassador since August 2019. She was deputy ambassador for two years before that. Trudeau, in his announcement, credited Hillman with playing “critical roles” in the negotiations of USMCA and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. “When we worked together to negotiate the new NAFTA, I saw Ms. Hillman’s ability to...

UK cites TTIP proposals in ripping EU’s Brexit negotiating mandate

The United Kingdom claims the European Union’s negotiating mandate for a post-Brexit trade agreement is overly onerous, accusing the EU of demanding more conditions for zero-tariff trade than it asked of the U.S. in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations. The EU on Tuesday released its negotiating mandate for post-Brexit trade negotiations with the UK. Accompanying the EU member states’ authorization for the EU Commission to begin negotiations with the UK was a 46-page list of directives the Commission...

May 2019 Congressional Research Service report on U.S.-EU trade negotiations

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EU report: Limited, ‘meaningful’ deal on industrial tariffs would benefit EU, U.S.

The U.S. and the European Union could increase exports to the other by around $30 billion each in an agreement that eliminates only industrial tariffs, according to a new EU economic impact report on a potential deal. An increase of that level would amount to a boost of 9 percent in U.S. exports to the EU, and 8 percent in EU exports to the U.S., according to the report , prepared by the European Commission. “The elimination of tariffs, even...

U.S. eyeing a slew of new deals in 2019 as it pushes to finish USMCA

The Trump administration will have its hands full in 2019, with new talks slated to begin with Brussels, Tokyo, London and potentially more, as well as the implementation of a revised deal with South Korea. The fate of the U.S.-Mexico -Canada Agreement will also be determined next year by a new Congress. A look at what to expect: U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement Passage of the USMCA will be a key hurdle for the Trump administration in 2019, as a significant...

Auto groups call for regulatory cohesion in U.S.-EU trade deal

Auto groups are calling on the U.S. to prioritize regulatory cohesion with the European Union in a potential trade deal with Brussels, though the two parties initially agreed to leave cars out of the discussion. Regulatory cohesion on new auto standards and mutual recognition of existing auto standards between the U.S. and the EU would give U.S. vehicle suppliers more access to the bloc as well as third-country markets that are opting for EU standards over the United States', auto...

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