US-EU deal ‘secretive’, unusual for a community that is always transparent: EU official
View(s):The agreement between the European Union and the United States seem to be secretive which is rather strange because the EU has always been a transparent community, a top EU official said on Wednesday.
Speaking at a Centre for Law And Security Studies (CLASS)-organised seminar on “Geopolitics and International Trade: A Sri Lankan Perspective”, held in Colombo, Ms. Carmen Moreno, EU Ambassador in Sri Lanka, said: “The EU Trade Commissioner told a media conference that he is unable to give details of the agreement which is quite strange because the EU is normally transparent.”
Ms. Carmen Moreno. Pix by Priyanka Samaraweera.
Under the deal clinched last Sunday, the US will tax most EU imports at 15 per cent while the EU has pledged to purchase US$750 billion of US energy products.
While an agreement has been reached, in which some countries in the EU are not happy about, she expected the discussions between the two parties to continue. “We believe in fair and open trade. While we have open trade with developing countries we have not asked them (as a condition) to open it for us,” she added.
Opening remarks were made by the EU ambassador and Dr. Ganeshan Wignaraja, a distinguished scholar ahead of a panel discussion that featured former Foreign Secretary Ravinath Aryasinha and Ernst & Young Director Talal Rafi with Advocata CEO Dhananath Fernando as the moderator.
Dr. Wignaraja said that Sri Lanka is more exposed to the US in trade terms unlike neighbouring countries. “How should South Asia (SA) respond to these US trade development? Some people say we need a joint SA response instead of an individual-country approach,” he said.
Mr. Aryasinha said what was interesting is that the US trade tariffs doesn’t have a human rights dimension unlike trade ties with the EU while what was commendable was the government and the industry jointly meeting these challenges. “The big question is on August 2 (the day after the new tariff is announced). Are we prepared for the announcement, are the markets ready, are the people ready for these changes?” he asked.
Mr. Rafi said that Sri Lanka’s production costs are high owing to high power, food and construction costs and is a high-cost manufacturing centre compared to its competitors in the region like Bangladesh and Cambodia.
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