TTIP has potential to boost transatlantic auto trade by 20% or more, study shows

Brussels/Washington, 17 July 2015 – The 10th round of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations between the United States and the European Union took place this week in Brussels. The negotiations are gaining new momentum, as the potential of this unprecedented economic and trade deal is coming into focus.
For the automotive industry, TTIP represents an opportunity to remove regulatory barriers, while maintaining high safety and environmental standards. A recent study by the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) – “Gains from Harmonizing US and EU Auto Regulations under the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership” – concluded that the elimination of such differences could increase automotive trade by 20% or more, resulting in transatlantic income gains of over $20 billion.
Industry estimates that this rise would represent over 240,000 more vehicles traded annually, worth more than $9 billion, and supporting tens of thousands of jobs. Eliminating tariffs and achieving greater auto regulatory convergence would also provide greater consumer choice, lower costs and improve the international competitiveness of the American and European auto industries [1].
The American Automotive Policy Council (AAPC), the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) and the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (Alliance) strongly support an ambitious outcome for the automotive sector, which maximises the consumer benefits and economic growth that could be achieved. To that end, the associations are supporting the TTIP automotive talks through coordinated engagement with the American and EU negotiators, as well as by supporting reports and studies that inform the talks, such as the PIIE study.
ACEA, AAPC and the Alliance are confident that transatlantic automotive regulatory convergence will result in large economic gains for both economies.
[1] The conclusions of the study are based on the experiences of the signatories of the UN 1958 Agreement
Notes for editors
- The PIIE study is available online at http://www.piie.com/publications/pb/pb15-10.pdf
- The American Automotive Policy Council represents the common public policy interests of its member companies – FCA US, Ford Motor Company and General Motors Company. Media contact: Ashley Pratte, +1 202 677-7060, info@americanautocouncil.org
- The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers is a trade association of 12 car and light truck manufacturers including BMW Group, FCA US, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Jaguar Land Rover, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz USA, Mitsubishi Motors, Porsche, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo. Media contact: Wade Newton +1 202 326 5571, wnewton@autoalliance.org
About ACEA
- The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) represents the 14 major Europe-based car, van, truck and bus makers: BMW Group, DAF Trucks, Daimler Truck, Ferrari, Ford of Europe, Honda Motor Europe, Hyundai Motor Europe, Iveco Group, JLR, Mercedes-Benz, Renault Group, Toyota Motor Europe, Volkswagen Group, and Volvo Group
- Visit www.acea.auto for more information about ACEA, and follow us on www.twitter.com/ACEA_auto or www.linkedin.com/company/ACEA/
Contact:
- Cara McLaughlin, Communications Director, cm@acea.auto, +32 485 88 66 47
- Ben Kennard, Content Editor and Press Manager, bk@acea.auto, +32 2 738 73 17
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About the EU automobile industry
- 12.9 million Europeans work in the automotive sector
- 8.3% of all manufacturing jobs in the EU
- €392.2 billion in tax revenue for European governments
- €101.9 billion trade surplus for the European Union
- Over 7% of EU GDP generated by the auto industry
- €59.1 billion in R&D spending annually, 31% of EU total