USCIB has endorsed an understanding between the U.S., the
European Union and five Central European nations that joined the EU on May 1
(plus two in line for future membership) on modification to existing U.S.
bilateral investment treaties (BITs) with the acceding countries.
USCIB President
Thomas Niles wrote to Sen.
Richard
Lugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on May 3 voicing
support for the agreement. The
longstanding U.S. BIT program seeks to protect existing foreign investment from
expropriation, capital controls and other threatening host government measures,
and provides for solid dispute resolution measures – often critical in
promoting FDI in countries where the rule of law may not be secure.
The newest EU members were required to conform to European
Union law, which may in some instances conflict with existing treaty
requirements, including some U.S. BITs.
The acceding countries could have chosen to cancel the treaties
altogether. The understanding resolves
any potential conflict between the BITs and EU law, while protecting existing
U.S. investment in the acceding countries from any new discriminatory measures
for a period of ten years.
Earlier, Sen. Lugar wrote a letter urging the Bush
administration to maintain protections for U.S. investments, through high
standards for dispute resolution as part of the U.S. BIT program and in U.S.
free trade agreements.
For more information: www.uscib.org/index.asp?documentID=2887
For U.S. and Canada, Plus
Ça Change – Canadian Prime Minister
Paul Martin paid a visit
to Washington in April, meeting with
President Bush and other U.S.
officials. In an interview with
Canadian television, USCIB President
Thomas Niles, who served as the
U.S. envoy to Canada during the late 1980s, observed that such longstanding
issues as softwood lumber and missile defense formed the core agenda for the
Prime Minister’s visit. “There's hope
here that we can look ahead toward better cooperation,” he said. “I think the idea of a crisis in the
U.S.-Canada relationship is misguided.”
Read the entire interview at:
www.uscib.org/index.asp?documentID=2885.
