US and the EU to Push for Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement

[Frodo]

EU, US to push for trans-Atlantic trade deal

By DON MELVIN
Associated Press

BRUSSELS —
The European Union and the United States announced Wednesday that they have agreed to pursue talks aimed at achieving an overarching trans-Atlantic free trade deal.

The 27-country EU said such an agreement, first announced in Tuesday's State of the Union address by President Barack Obama, would be the biggest bilateral trade deal ever negotiated. Any agreement could boost the EU's economic output by 0.5 percent and the U.S.'s by 0.7 percent, according to some estimates. That would be a highly desirable outcome when the EU and the U.S. are both struggling with slow growth, high unemployment and high levels of debt.

(...)

A high-level U.S.-EU working group on jobs and growth said the goals of the agreement would include removing import tariffs, which average 4 percent, and getting rid of other barriers to trade such as the approval processes that businesses have to go through in order to sell products on both sides of the Atlantic.

[Simfan34]

We need this so much, so, so much.


The West must come together.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Seems like a good idea.

[Tender Branson]

In general not bad, but only if the EU import restrictions for the US gene-manipulated crap crop remains.

[muon2]

In general not bad, but only if the EU import restrictions for the US gene-manipulated crap crop remains.

Agriculture will be an issue on both sides for an agreement. Europe doesn't want GMOs and the US doesn't like the high ag subsidies in the EU.

[angus]

the US doesn't like the high ag subsidies in the EU.

yet our congress seems very comfortable with the $5 billion per year subsidies to our own farmers.

[opebo]

... the $5 billion per year subsidies to our own farmers.

That's all it is?  Small potatoes!

[angus]

... the $5 billion per year subsidies to our own farmers.

That's all it is?  Small potatoes!

Actually, the potatoes themselves are pretty large, and they travel well thanks to genetic modifications.  The EU will eventually relax those pesky restrictions, no doubt.  What I don't think either the US or the EU (or Japan) will do is stop paying farmers not to grow stuff. 

My number may be off.  I'm not counting the 75% of the "farm bill" money that goes into food stamps.  I'm just counting the portion that goes to price supports and crop insurance, and I may have underestimated it.  A recent CBO estimate that I just googled put it at more like 11 billion.

[traininthedistance]

In general not bad, but only if the EU import restrictions for the US gene-manipulated crap crop remains.

At the risk of breaking orthodoxy and making some enemies here... the blanket opposition to GMO crops that is so strong in Europe and popular in many liberal circles here is something based more in emotion than science.  While it is good to have close scrutiny and effective regulation to guard against potential harmful side effects, most of these changes allow us to feed more people with less land and energy, and that can only be a good thing given the alternative.

Every agricultural product that man uses has been modified in some way or another to increase yield, nutrition, etc.  We wouldn't have civilization if that weren't the case.

The anti-GMO movement is, while not quite so disastrous and evil, the closest thing the left has to climate change denialism or ID hogwash.

[traininthedistance]

In general not bad, but only if the EU import restrictions for the US gene-manipulated crap crop remains.

At the risk of breaking orthodoxy and making some enemies here... the blanket opposition to GMO crops that is so strong in Europe and popular in many liberal circles here is something based more in emotion than science.  While it is good to have close scrutiny and effective regulation to guard against potential harmful side effects, most of these changes allow us to feed more people with less land and energy, and that can only be a good thing given the alternative.

Every agricultural product that man uses has been modified in some way or another to increase yield, nutrition, etc.  We wouldn't have civilization if that weren't the case.

The anti-GMO movement is, while not quite so disastrous and evil, the closest thing the left has to climate change denialism or ID hogwash.

I should clarify that this is not true for industrialized factory farming of animals: the concentrated waste products and battery of antibiotics that go into these operations really are a huge problem for both food quality and the wider environment, and the Greens do have science on their side here.

[opebo]

11 billion.

Still very small cabbage.

[Indy Texas]

Paranoia about fracking and genetically modified food is the Left's analog to the Right's global warming and intelligent design trutherism. It's people listening to their hearts tell them one thing even when the facts say otherwise, to paraphrase Ronnie.

[traininthedistance]

Paranoia about fracking and genetically modified food is the Left's analog to the Right's global warming and intelligent design trutherism. It's people listening to their hearts tell them one thing even when the facts say otherwise, to paraphrase Ronnie.

I wouldn't put fracking in the same category as GMOs.  While I accept that fracking is better for the climate than coal, certainly, the associated water quality issues are very real.  NYC has been able to save billions by protecting the land around its Catskills reservoirs rather than sinking money and energy into after-the-fact water treatment, so the possibility that could be ruined by a faulty gas well is something we do need to vigilantly guard against.

[Franzl]

I think the anti GMO crops position is pretty comparable to climate change denialism.

[opebo]

Paranoia about fracking and genetically modified food is the Left's analog to the Right's global warming and intelligent design trutherism. It's people listening to their hearts tell them one thing even when the facts say otherwise, to paraphrase Ronnie.

What is the evidence?  A healthy skepticism about the actions of large, poor-killing corporations and the corrupt 'regulators' who serve them is quite reasonable.

[ingemann]

I think the anti GMO crops position is pretty comparable to climate change denialism.

I think that to make such a statement is foolish, as GMO crops are so wide a field that you need to look at every crop alone rather than just come with blanket statement. Beside even the Green Revolutions which dealt with crops and methods we already knew, have shown itself ttoo have a lot of unforseen consequences when embraced on large scale, so the best is not to blindly jump into the unknown, but to careful look into the consequences, as when the genie is out of the bottle it's too late.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Anyone who knows anything about the history of the countryside (which countryside is literally irrelevant) knows that all kinds of awful and stupid things are sold to us as proven by science and therefore correct. You townies are far too credulous.

[Politico]

We need to get this done, but we need to make sure the monetary authorities do not take measures with intent to depreciate our currency in order to boost exports to the EU. That is a shortsighted policy that will do far more harm than good in the long-run.