What’s in My Sandwich? Trade, Values, and the Promise of Deeper Integration

Authors

Francesco Duina, Bates CollegeFollow

Publication Title

Transatlantic Relations: Challenge and Resilience

Document Type

Book Chapter - Open Access

Department or Program

Sociology

Publication Date

2022

Abstract

The US and the EU have enjoyed a strong trade relationship for decades, even taking into account their various disputes. The relationship rests on solid market, rule-of-law, and political principles, and the World Trade Organization’s tariff regime. The recent negotiations over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) negotiations, however, show that obstacles prevent deeper integration. Both deals sought to go beyond tariff reductions by pursuing regulatory alignment. The risks of this approach became clear during the negotiations over food (particularly genetically modified organisms and hormone-treated beef). TTIP was abandoned. A CETA agreement is still awaiting full ratification. CETA also stumbled over a mechanism enabling foreign investors to challenge domestic laws. Regulatory alignment is necessary to deepen transatlantic trade relations, and it might be possible as pressures from other trading initiatives—and the rise of China and Asia—make its costs more acceptable.

Comments

Original version is available from the publisher at: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003147565

Recommended Citation

Duina, Francesco. 2022. “What’s in My Sandwich? Trade, Values, and the Promise of Deeper Integration.” In Transatlantic Relations: Challenge and Resilience, edited by Donald E. Abelson and Stephen Brooks. New York: Routledge.