WASHINGTON-The United States and the European Union late last week were close to a major trade agreement on streamlining product certification governing telecommunications-information technology equipment and other goods, a move designed to save American manufacturers 10 percent on exports to Europe.
“We have achieved a major breakthrough on MRAs (mutual recognition agreements) and are very hopeful we will conclude an agreement in the next few days,” said Charlene Barshefsky, U.S. trade representative. “The MRA package continues the administration’s emphasis on expanding trade and opening markets in areas where the United States leads the world.
Commerce Secretary William Daley said the “Trans-Atlantic Business Dialogue, in partnership with the administration, made it possible to reach this point.”
Mutual recognition agreements enable products or processes to be assessed for conformity, where testing, inspection and certification are involved in trade between the United States and the European Union.
The 15 EU countries represent the largest export bloc for American products. All told, two-way trade between the United States and the EU covered by the agreement accounts for $47 billion in trans-Atlantic commerce annually.
“This is a formidable asset and we are determined to develop it even further,” said Jacques Santer, president of the European Union.
Matthew J. Flanigan, president of the Tele-communications Industry Association, praised American and European negotiators in resolving differences that threatened a deal. But he cautioned, “The time to act is now. We must not lose the momentum achieved in recent weeks.”
The trade accord was struck during a one-day U.S.-EU Summit last Wednesday in The Hague, the Netherlands, against the backdrop of activities commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Marshall Plan.
When asked during a press briefing about the importance of a single currency in promoting a closer European Union, President Clinton replied the decision was up to EU members but “that a more integrated, more closely cooperating Europe with fewer barriers to trade, to communications, to travel, to working together is a good thing for Europe and a good thing for the United States and, therefore, a good thing for the world.”
Barshefsky, who was recently confirmed as the United State’s trade representative by the Senate, previously negotiated trade agreements to open global markets for basic telecommunications services and to phase out tariffs on high technology equipment, including tele-communications and technology devices.
