Ideas for New Transatlantic Initiatives on Trade

An ECIPE/GMF working paper produced for the Transatlantic Task Force on Trade explores what forms a transatlantic free trade initiative could take. Four big-picture alternatives are considered. More precisely, this paper gives 'pitches' for the various alternatives, without being shy about potential drawbacks. The first scenario is a status quo, business-as-usual alternative: leaving the bilateral transatlantic relations in their current state, with the Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC) as a main forum for cooperation. The second and third alternatives consist of establishing a transatlantic free trade agreement covering trade in goods and/or in services. The fourth alternative implies transatlantic cooperation with the explicit ambition of creating a sort of snowball effect of other countries joining. The latter could take the form of 'open regionalism' based on the agreements set out in the second scenario, or they could aim for pluri-lateral or critical mass agreements that are brought in under the auspices of the WTO. This paper proposes a specific sectoral initiative: an International Digital Economy Agreement.