Franchise registrations in Saudi Arabia surge 866% over 3 years    Lulu Saudi Arabia celebrates its 15th anniversary with the grand launch of 'Super Fest 2024'    Cristiano Ronaldo's double powers Al Nassr to 3-1 win over Al Gharafa in AFC Champions League    Culture minister tours Saudi pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka    Al Ahli edges Al Ain 2-1, bolsters perfect start in AFC Champions League Elite    Saud Abdulhamid makes history as first Saudi player in Serie A    Saudi Cabinet to hold special budget session on Tuesday    King Salman orders extension of Citizen's Account Program and additional support for a full year    Al-Falih: 1,238 foreign investors obtain premium residency in Saudi Arabia    Several dead as Storm Bert wreaks havoc across Britain    Irish PM apologizes for walking away from care worker    Most decorated Australian Olympian McKeon retires    Adele doesn't know when she'll perform again after tearful Vegas goodbye    'Pregnant' for 15 months: Inside the 'miracle' pregnancy scam    Hezbollah fires rocket barrages into Israel after deadly Beirut strikes    Ukraine losing ground in Russia's Kursk region, says military source    Do cigarettes belong in a museum?    Saudi Arabia to host 28th Annual World Investment Conference in Riyadh    Riyadh Emir inaugurates International Conference on Conjoined Twins in Riyadh    Katy Perry v Katie Perry: Singer wins right to use name in Australia    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Filipino pilgrim's incredible evolution from an enemy of Islam to its staunch advocate    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



EU, US agree to push for trans-Atlantic trade deal
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 14 - 02 - 2013

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 — a highly desirable outcome when the EU and the US are both struggling with slow growth, high unemployment and high levels of debt.
“Both of us need growth,” said Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, the EU's executive arm Wednesday . “And both of us have budgetary problems.”
In a joint statement issued released simultaneously in Washington and Brussels, President Obama, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and Barroso said they were “committed to making this relationship an even stronger driver of our prosperity”.
“Through this negotiation, the United States and the European Union will have the opportunity not only to expand trade and investment across the Atlantic, but also to contribute to the development of global rules that can strengthen the multilateral trading system,” they said.
Trade between the US and the EU is already huge, reaching €2 billion ($2.69 billion) a day, EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said.
A high-level US-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.
Beyond that, De Gucht said “there seems to be a consensus that the cost of a product contains about 10 percent of red tape. If you can largely make away with that, you will have the same product for a lower price without anybody paying for it.”
“So it would certainly affect people's lives on both sides of the Atlantic,” he said.
And that, he said, is one way in which such the trade deal would stimulate growth. If tariffs are removed and the red tape is reduced, the product would be cheaper. This in turn would increase demand — and more jobs as the manufacturer would need to hire more people to fill the orders.
“So it's giving a boost to trade, but also to industry and to services,” he said.
In addition, he said, consumers would benefit from lower, and more uniform, prices. If tariffs are removed, he said, the price of a bottle of French wine would be roughly the same in the US as it is in Paris.
De Gucht said that initial talks should start by summer.
The negotiations will cover a huge array of commercial and agricultural areas. Officials hope to complete them within two years.
“For these negotiations to succeed, we need above all political will,” Barroso said. “These negotiations will not be easy.”
But he added that a successful negotiation would result in a “win-win” situation, and be “a game-changer.”
One example of where the two economies could benefit from the talks is car making: If each side recognized the other's car safety standards — or if the standards were harmonized — an auto manufacturer would not have to satisfy two different sets of requirements. – AP


Clic here to read the story from its source.