Another temporary casualty of the US government shutdown is the negotiation process surrounding the US and Europe’s free trade agreement.
Another temporary casualty of the US government shutdown is the negotiation process surrounding the US and Europe’s free trade agreement. The second round of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) talks were due to start this week in Brussels, Belgium, but following last Tuesday’s closedown of non-essential US operations, trade representative Michael Froman has told the EU that the constraints have made it impossible to send over a full negotiating team.
The first round of T-TIP negotiations ended on a positive note in July, with EU leaders branding them “historic” and the US extolling the “significant benefits” of international competitiveness, jobs, and growth. The pharma industry on both sides of the Atlantic was heartened by the talks, welcoming the potential for greater efficiencies by addressing regulatory differences and duplicative requirement.
The second round was set to involve 13 working groups, with 100 officials from the EU.
Froman has stressed that Washington will continue with the talks when the shutdown is over, and European Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said the delay was unfortunate but “in no way distracts us from our overall aim of achieving an ambitious trade and investment deal.”
But as disgruntled commentators have pointed out that, having waited three months between the first negotiation session and the second, the US shutdown will nudge the potential economic benefits of the agreement, very much needed by both parties, even further into the future.
What Every Pharma CEO Should Know About Unlocking the Potential of Scientific Data
December 11th 2024When integrated into pharmaceutical enterprises, scientific data has the potential to drive organizational growth and innovation. Mikael Hagstroem, CEO at leading laboratory informatics provider LabVantage Solutions, discusses how technology partners add significant value to pharmaceutical R&D, in addition to manufacturing quality.
Key Findings of the NIAGARA and HIMALAYA Trials
November 8th 2024In this episode of the Pharmaceutical Executive podcast, Shubh Goel, head of immuno-oncology, gastrointestinal tumors, US oncology business unit, AstraZeneca, discusses the findings of the NIAGARA trial in bladder cancer and the significance of the five-year overall survival data from the HIMALAYA trial, particularly the long-term efficacy of the STRIDE regimen for unresectable liver cancer.