US-Europe Trade Talks Resume Monday

U.S. and European negotiators are resuming talks Monday in New York on a controversial trans-Atlantic trade deal.

The proposal is supported by both U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, leader of Europe's biggest economy. But the prospect of a deal drew thousands of street protesters in Germany over the weekend.

"We say no, we do not want this," Munich protester Lisa Munz said. "It is enough what is going on here in Germany with genetic engineering.''

The new round of talks are the ninth negotiating session since last year.

Officials say a U.S.-Europe deal would add $100 billion annually to the economies on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

It would slash the already low tariffs between the world's largest individual economy, the United States, and the 28-nation European Union, which has a collective economy that is even bigger than that of the U.S. A pact would unify many regulations on the two continents and affect goods and services on a wide range of products and services, including such diverse items as Roquefort cheese and accounting.

But opponents say that powerful corporate interests have more to gain than consumers in such a deal, lowering food and safety standards. The most contentious proposal would allow corporations to sue governments in courts that are above national laws.

In Germany, the opposition also reflects rising anti-Americanism. The sentiments have been fueled in part by revelations of U.S. spying, including the wiretapping of Ms. Merkel's cell phone.

On Friday, Obama called for the negotiations to move forward.

"Now that Congress is considering important bipartisan legislation for trade promotion authority, TTIP negotiations need to make major progress this year," he told a joint news conference with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.

Top U.S. lawmakers reached a deal Thursday on legislation giving President Obama "trade promotion authority" to seal the TTIP, as well as another key accord with Asian nations, with Congress only able to vote up or down on the agreements, not make changes.

Билет №24

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IMF Committed to 'More Robust' Economy

The International Monetary Fund warned Saturday that while economic growth in advanced countries has strengthened, some emerging economies are facing weaker commodity prices and exports.

In a communique, the IMF's steering committee said the organization was committed to taking additional measures to support a "more robust, balanced and job-rich global economy."

With the United States poised to hike interest rates, the committee — speaking for the fund's 188 member nations -— said moves toward "policy normalization'' needed to be effectively communicated to reduce adverse impacts on other economies.

Low inflation remains a concern for many developed economies despite signs the European Central Bank's quantitative easing program has boosted Europe's ailing economy, and the communique called for easy monetary policies to be maintained where needed.

"Global imbalances are reduced from previous years, but a further rebalancing of demand is still needed,'' the communique said. That appeared to echo U.S. concerns over Germany's huge current account surplus.

The committee also said that the "possibility of lower growth potential'' was becoming an important global challenge — a topic that the panel's chairman said was central to talks on Saturday.

"I came out of this meeting with a sense of optimism,'' said the chairman, Mexican Finance Minister Agustin Carstens. "The fact that a lot of the discussion basically rotated around how to increase growth... and not only discussing risks — I think that was a very good sign.''

A three-day spring meeting of the World Bank and IMF concludes Sunday in Washington, amid growing concerns that Greece might fail to reach agreement with its European Union and IMF creditors on a $270 billion financial bailout package. That is one of a number of growing threats that global finance officials say could affect the post-recession economic recovery.

Билет №25

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