As the prominence of tariffs in the transatlantic relationship has receded and transnational supply chains and investment have proliferated, regulatory barriers to transatlantic trade have become more evident. Reducing duplicative regulations that increase production and compliance costs without providing any meaningful social benefits is a chief aim of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations. Indeed, most of the economic gains from the TTIP are expected to come from this exercise.
But that is easier said than done. According to University of California-Irvine law school professor Gregory Shaffer, “regulatory barriers to trade can be more pernicious and more difficult to reduce than tariff barriers because they often reflect certain cultural values and preferences, and there are often more interests vested in the status quo.” In his Cato Online Forum essay, submitted in conjunction with last month’s TTIP conference, Shaffer describes five different approaches to regulatory coherence/harmonization (with pros and cons) that could be undertaken by U.S. and EU negotiators.
Depsite vastly different approaches to regulation on opposite sides of the Atlantic, Shaffer points to examples of successful cooperation in recent years as evidence that the TTIP’s regulatory coherence discussions could bear fruit. But he doesn’t bet the house on that outcome. Instead, he writes:
We should nonetheless be cautious in our optimism given the serious impediments to achieving regulatory coherence. Removing regulatory barriers to trade and investment while continuing to reflect local preferences and retain democratic accountability is, and always has been, a challenging undertaking.
Read Shaffer’s essay here. Read the other Cato Online Forum essays here.
