STR Trade Reports that “U.S. and European Union officials deemed the fifth round of Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations last week “productive” but said that much work remains to be done.”  The next round of talks is slated for July.

Areas of Negotiation:

–       Technical barriers to trade

–       Competition

–       State to state dispute settlement

–       Small and medium-sized businesses

The two officials also gave the following updates in regards to their meeting:

– The U.S. has yet to submit a second tariff elimination offer but there was a discussion to clarify some elements of each side’s offers.

– There have been specific discussions on textiles, including tariffs and greater convergence of regulatory approaches, but nothing yet on rules of origin. The EU is willing to consider a separate textile chapter.

– The EU does not envisage that TTIP will change current laws prohibiting hormone-treated beef or establishing the procedure for authorizing genetically modified organisms.

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