[CTC] Biden talks trade, economic recovery with foreign leaders

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Biden talks trade, economic recovery with foreign leaders
By Isabelle Icso, Inside US Trade 
11/10/2020
President-elect Joe Biden this week began discussing economic issues -- including trade -- with foreign leaders who offered congratulations as a well as affirmations of support for multilateralism and enhanced cooperation.
In conversations on Tuesday with French President Emannuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Biden discussed ways to pursue a global “sustainable economic recovery,” according to a readout of the calls provided by the Biden-Harris transition team.
A spokesman for the UK government said Biden and Johnson “discussed the close and longstanding relationship between our countries and committed to building on this partnership in the years ahead, in areas such as trade and security -- including through NATO.”
In his conversations with the leaders from London and Dublin, Biden reaffirmed his support for the Good Friday Agreement, which has kept the Irish border largely frictionless since 2005. Biden in September warned against <https://insidetrade.com/node/169646> the potential unraveling of the Good Friday accord, saying “Any trade deal between the U.S. and U.K. must be contingent upon respect for the Agreement and preventing the return of a hard border. Period.”
House Democrats have expressed similar concerns as the U.S. and UK work to conclude a bilateral trade deal next year.
Additionally, Biden touched base with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday.
“The prime minister and the president-elect agreed on the importance of the unique Canada-U.S. partnership and committed to work together to fight the global COVID-19 pandemic and to support a sustainable economic recovery in both countries and the hemisphere,” according to a readout from the Canadian government.
The leaders also discussed bilateral trade relations, Biden’s intent to strengthen “Buy American” policies, and China-related issues, Canadian news outlet CBC reported <https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-us-election-trump-biden-harris-1.5795060> on Nov. 9.
The Trump administration, however, continues to insist the election results have not been confirmed, while the Trump campaign continues legal challenges. Asked on Tuesday about a transition to a Biden administration, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo insisted there would be a “smooth transition to a second Trump administration.”
The administration also has not yet allowed official transition cooperation to begin. The General Services Administration is the agency that oversees transition efforts and funding, but so far its head had not begun to cooperate, according to reports.
Biden told reporters <https://twitter.com/igorbobic/status/1326250434533666824> on Tuesday that official approval from GSA was not critical to the transition’s advancement.
Senior analysts with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, meanwhile, said this week that Biden should continue to prioritize strengthening U.S. economic ties -- perhaps via an impromptu G20 summit early next year.
“President Biden will have much work at home following his inauguration,” Mark Sobel, U.S. chair of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum and a senior adviser to CSIS, and Matthew Goodman, senior vice president for economics and Simon Chair in political economy at CSIS, said in a Nov. 10 blog post <https://www.csis.org/analysis/biden-should-call-early-g20-summit?utm_source=CSIS+All&utm_campaign=c47c1b35ba-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_11_29_08_02_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f326fc46b6-c47c1b35ba-195014897>. “But calling for an early G20 summit on pressing economic and health issues will complement those domestic efforts and offer an opportunity to strengthen the United States’ standing overseas. There has never been a more critical time for bold and swift action.”
During the financial crisis, G20 leaders met in 2009 for a second summit and committed to a “bold -- and ultimately successful -- action plan to restart the world economy,” they wrote. “Twelve years later, the world faces a global pandemic and the worst economic disruption since the Great Depression. The G20, largely missing in action in recent years, should revive the spirit of London, this time led by a new U.S. president, Joe Biden. The president-elect should call for an urgent gathering in Rome early in 2021 under the auspices of the Italian G20 presidency.”
G20 leaders are slated to meeting virtually next weekend for the final meeting of the year under the leadership of Saudi Arabia. Since March, trade ministers from the forum have been assessing ways to mitigate economic hardships caused by the coronavirus.
Goodman helped prepare for G20 summits during his time in the Obama White House, when he served as director for international economics on the National Security Council. Sobel is a former treasury official who served as chief U.S. financial negotiator with the G20 from 2008-2015.
“Trade is another priority for an early G20 summit in 2021,” they wrote. “At the first G20 summit in Washington D.C., leaders committed to refrain from raising new barriers to investment or trade, and this commitment was repeatedly underscored. By and large, it constrained beggar-thy-neighbor behavior despite the pressures of the global financial crisis.”
“In recent years, those commitments have been pushed to the side. New protectionist measures, especially from the United States, have substantially weakened the global trade framework, jeopardizing global growth. The G20 should reaffirm its support for openness and trade. At the same time, it should launch an immediate ‘blue sky’ expert study of reform of the multilateral trading system,” the analysts added.
During the latest G20 trade meeting in September, members committed to continue doing “whatever it takes and to use all available policy tools to minimize the economic and social damage of the pandemic, restore global growth, maintain market stability, and strengthen resilience, as mandated by our Leaders.”
“We welcome the progress achieved, in particular the termination of many trade restrictive measures and the implementation of trade facilitation measures,” they said in a Sept. 22 joint communiqué <https://insidetrade.com/node/169689>.
The U.S. and China could also use next year’s G20 summit as a venue for positive engagement.
“[T]o reinvigorate G20 cooperation, the United States and China -- now the two dominant global economies -- will need to find areas where they can positively engage despite continuing tensions in the relationship,” the blog continued. 
 
Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826




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