[CTC] White House Predicts TTIP Will Not Conclude Under Obama Administration

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Inside U.S. Trade 
Daily News
White House Predicts TTIP Will Not Conclude Under Obama Administration
February 09, 2016
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest on Monday (Feb. 8) said that although the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is a priority for the Obama administration, he does not envision the deal wrapping up while President Obama is in office.
“I do not believe that we’re going to reach a TTIP agreement before the president leaves office, but he’s certainly interested in moving those negotiations forward and in a direction where we can be confident that the economy of the United States will be enhanced through the completion of an agreement hopefully under the leadership of the next U.S. Ppesident,” Earnest said at the daily press briefing.
This is the first time an administration official has publicly said that concluding the TTIP before Obama leaves office is unlikely, although officials have acknowledged that it would be difficult to do so. 
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, meanwhile, has stressed that the two side should push to reach a deal before Obama leaves. A USTR spokesman deferred a question on Earnest's comment to the White House.
The briefing came the same day that Obama met with Italian President Sergio Mattarella at the White House and signaled that the administration was still keen on concluding TTIP in 2016.
“And from the work we’re doing together in Afghanistan ... to the opportunities that present themselves in finalizing a trade agreement through the TTIP process, we agreed that joint and common action between the United States and Italy not only serves the interest of both our countries, but the broader transatlantic relationship that has underwritten so much peace and prosperity over the last several decades,” Obama said.
The meeting between Obama and Mattarella comes just two weeks ahead of the next TTIP negotiating round, slated for Feb. 22-26 in Brussels. But while U.S. trade officials have been publicly stressing the message that the talks must wrap up under Obama or else risk drifting for years, the U.S. has showed reluctance to make key concessions on issues like government procurement that the EU has said it needs to conclude a deal.
Mattarella, in his remarks after the meeting, said that TTIP could be used to prevent future economic and financial crises. Speaking through interpreter, he made the case that this would be good for developing countries as well, as they would also be impacted by any economic downturn in the U.S. or EU. 
“We also talked about our transatlantic economic and trade partnership, and this of course is a very important approach because it can help us to avoid in the future additional, new economic and financial crises, because they would, of course, jeopardize the prosperity that has been achieved in the developing world and perhaps ward off or prevent any prosperity from being achieved in developing nations,” he said.
Prior to the meeting, a White House notice said the two presidents would discuss “the importance of concluding the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.”
Mattarella, as the president, is the Italian head of state. The head of government is Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.
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