U.S. Makes Initial TTIP Services Offer While EU Refrains Pending Procedures

The U.S. has made an initial services offer in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations, while the European Union has so far refrained pending completion of domestic procedures, an industry source told Bloomberg BNA May 22.

Although the details of the U.S. offer remain confidential, the source said it includes reservations for nonconforming state measures in language similar or identical to that used in the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS), which refers to the U.S. exemptions in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) that entered into force in 1995. This language references, but does not list, state-level ...