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Policy Brief No.

104 — April 2017

China’s BIT Progress and


Implications for China-Canada
FTA Talks
Yong Wang

Key Points Introduction


→→ The progress of the China-US bilateral
Rising protectionism since Brexit in the United Kingdom
investment treaty (BIT) talks shows
and the election of Donald Trump in the United States
that China is embracing a next-
poses challenges to the global economy. How China, the
generation BIT.
second-largest economy, responds to these threats will not
→→ Complicated domestic politics have only affect the direction of the global economy, but also
influenced the last stage of the China- its own interests. On January 17, 2017, Chinese President Xi
US BIT talks. While top leadership in Jinping delivered a keynote speech at the World Economic
China must intervene to break the Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, stressing
stalemate, the US business community that China is the defender of globalization and the world
has pressed hard on the US government trade order, and will continue to open up to the world (Xi
on a variety of issues. 2017). On the same day, the State Council promulgated
a matching document, the “Notice on Measures for
→→ China’s acceptance of the next- the Active Use of Foreign Investment in Opening Up
generation BIT with unilateral to the Outside World” (also known as “20 Measures”)
liberalization is promising for the (State Council 2017), which introduced new policies to
forthcoming China-Canada free trade enhance market access and promote fair competition
agreement (FTA) talks. It could be for foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) in China.
much easier for the two sides to reach
agreement on investment and Despite the skepticism around the question of whether
service trade. China can really take on the leadership of the global
economy, pushing forward the further opening up of its
→→ The talks offer China and Canada economy seems to be the only choice for the country.
a special opportunity to stabilize Driven by economic slowdown and the pressure of the
the regional and world trade order Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), China has gradually but
currently challenged by rising firmly shaped an outward-looking economic strategy since
protectionism. the Xi-led leadership came to power in 2013. That is, it has
sought to open its economy to foreign investment and
pursue a high-standard BIT with its key trading
partners, the United States and the European

About the Author


Union; to speed up FTA talks with high(er)
standards to build China’s free trade network; and
to initiate the Asian Infrastructure Investment
Yong Wang is a CIGI senior fellow with Bank and the One Belt, One Road Initiative to
the Global Economy Program. He is improve the international governance structure and
director of the Center for International promote development and international economic
Political Economy and professor at the cooperation in Asia and beyond. All of these
School of International Studies, both at policies combine to form version 2.0 of China’s
Peking University. He is also professor vision of reform and opening up (Wang 2016).
at the Party School of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of China and president- Although BITs and FTAs have been pursued
appointed professor for the Hong Kong separately, they are highly related, and the offers
Special Administrative Region Senior Civil in China’s BIT talks will inevitably spill over to
Servants Training Program on Chinese the FTA negotiations. More noticeably, China
Affairs at Peking University, and a member has carried forward the efforts of unilateral
of the Ministry of Commerce Economic investment liberalization while pursuing BIT
Diplomacy Expert Working Group. Yong and FTA talks, which has improved the business
was formerly a consultant of the Asia environment for FIEs in the Chinese market.
Development Bank, Visiting Chevalier Chair
Professor at the Institute of Asian Research In this new context, the forthcoming China-
at the University of British Columbia Canada FTA talks present an unprecedented
and a member of the World Economic opportunity to strike a deal favourable to both
Forum Global Agenda Council on Global economies as well as boost confidence in the
Trade and Foreign Direct Investment. international trade order under threat from rising
protectionism. With the progress achieved in
China’s latest BIT talks and unilateral investment
liberalization, Canada and China are expected,
with cautious optimism, to reach agreements
Acronyms in less time than might be expected.

BIAs bilateral investment treaty

BIT bilateral investment treaty

FIEs foreign-invested enterprises


China’s BIT Progress:
FTA free trade agreement
Into a Next-generation
Mofcom Ministry of Commerce Agreement
PFTZs Pilot Free Trade Zones China has signed over 100 bilateral investment
agreements (BIAs), most of which were completed
PIIE Peterson Institute for after the reform and opening up began in the late
International Economics 1970s. Of these, 78 were signed with developing
countries and 26 with developed countries,
SOEs state-owned enterprises
including Germany, the United Kingdom and
TPP Trans-Pacific Partnership Canada (Peterson Institute for International
Economics [PIIE] 2015). Generally speaking,
USTR United States almost all of these BIAs are aimed at protecting
Trade Representative rights after investment, and pre-establishment
market access rights for investors are left out.

A new generation of BITs has been in development


in China. In addition to investment protection,

2 Policy Brief No. 104 — April 2017 • Yong Wang


China’s next-generation BIT talks have emphasized Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership,
market access or opening up. In the ongoing which exclude China. The Chinese leadership
China-US BIT negotiations (and the China-EU BIT), has set a clear goal: China should play a leading
China has accepted pre-establishment national role in global economic governance, and in
treatment combined with the negative list model order to meet this objective the country should
in the administration of foreign direct investment. open its economy further to gain bargaining
China has also agreed to advance the BIT talks by chips in reshaping the twenty-first-century
being more willing to accommodate the 2012 US rules of the international trade and investment
model BIT text, including more issue areas, such order (He 2016; Wang 2016). Obviously, the
as intellectual property, labour and environmental country has adopted such proactive measures to
protection, and so on (Liang and Dong 2013). counterbalance the TPP effects of trade diverting.

The following factors may account for China’s


stance on incorporating market-opening
clauses into the BIT negotiations with the
United States and the European Union. Comparison of BIT Talks
First, since the global financial crisis of 2008,
the pressure of demanding reciprocity in market
with the United States
access has risen among US and EU companies with
investments in China. They have strong concerns
and the European Union
about China’s industrial policies that favour state- The China-US BIT negotiations were launched in
owned enterprises (SOEs) in the form of innovation 2008, and through several rounds of talks, the
incentives, subsidies and government procurement. differences over the core issues, including the
These foreign companies promote China to status of SOEs, intellectual property protection,
open up the market and extend them national transparency and standard-setting, did not
treatment status in all activities of investment. diminish. Major progress was made in July
2013 under China’s new leadership, when China
Second, Chinese decision makers assume that a
conceded that the “pre-establishment national
high-standard BIT can be leveraged to lower the
treatment plus negative list model” in the
barriers that China’s growing outbound investment
administration of foreign investment should be
faces in host countries. For example, Chinese
the basis of the BIT negotiations (Bai 2016).
negotiators hope that the BIT can address the
concerns Chinese investors have about the arbitrary China’s substantial concession on market entry
and non-transparent procedures of the Committee put the talks on a fast track. As a result, in early
on Foreign Investment in the United States in the 2015, both sides reached agreement on the core
name of national security (Shen 2016). China’s text and main terms of the BIT. In June 2015, they
outbound investment (non-financial) is expected to exchanged the negative list for the first time,
jump to US$170 billion in 2016 (Renminwang 2016). and began negotiations on this key issue. Since
Chinese investors are increasingly calling for the then, the two sides have exchanged negative
government to strengthen protection by negotiating list bids three times, in September 2015, June
high-standard agreements with host nations. 2016 and September 2016 (Bai 2016; Guo 2016).
Third, the Chinese economy has been under As the China-US BIT talks reach the “final” stage,
the so-called “new normal” conditions, which the negotiations are increasingly influenced by the
should be focused on increased consumption complicated and sensitive domestic politics in the
and innovation to ensure a successful two countries. Although the Ministry of Commerce
transformation. Relaxed market access for FIEs (Mofcom) acts as the chief coordinator in China,
has great potential to bring in badly needed the negative list should be a combined offer from
technology and skills, in particular in the service different regulatory agencies, which may harbour
industry and high-end manufacturing. more substantial influence and work desperately
with “vested interests” in various industries to
Last, the next-generation BIT should help to relieve
ensure the list is as long as possible. As previous
the competition and pressure from US-driven
negotiations have shown, the stalemate caused
megaregional FTAs, including the TPP and the
by bureaucratic politics can be broken only by

China’s BIT Progress and Implications for China-Canada FTA Talks 3


intervention from top leadership, which acts based liberalization with respect to market access,
on the domestic and foreign agenda (Wang 2002). transparency, labour treatment, the environment,
A recent example of such intervention was the investment arbitration and so on (Bai 2016).
“significant” progress in the BIT negotiations on the
eve of the summit meeting between President Xi Unfortunately, the China-EU BIT talks have not yet
and former US President Barack Obama before the achieved significant progress. Two factors have
Group of Twenty leaders’ meeting held in Hangzhou shaped the slow pace of the negotiations. The first
in early September. The political leaders clearly factor lies in the change of expectations. While
had a stake in substantiating the relations in the the European industries insist on China meeting
year of a US election, and the intensive talks in the principle of reciprocity in market access, there
Beijing from August 21 to 28, 2016, and the small- are more concerns about the rising amount of
scale meetings of the heads of the delegations Chinese investment in Europe. The second and
from August 29 to September 3 achieved a much more important factor is the difficulty of internal
shorter negative list. At the same time, both sides coordination among the member states of the
once again confirmed the high-level agreement European Union because of different demands.
regarding the “shared goal of creating a non- For example, developed-country members of the
discriminatory, transparent and open investment European Union give priority to the protection of
regime” (Mofcom Press Office 2016; Guo 2016). investment interests in China, while the Central and
Eastern European members are more concerned
On the US side, the United States Trade with attracting investment from China (ibid.).
Representative (USTR) and the business community
engage in a complicated political game as well.
The US business community has pressed hard

Unilateral Liberalization:
on the US government, not only for a shorter
negative list, but also on many issues that are

China’s Preparation for


not included in the 2012 US model BIT, such as
China’s rules surrounding data flows and other

BIT Risks
data-related requirements, SOEs, discriminatory
enforcement of the anti-monopoly law and forced
technology transfer. US business representatives
claim that they are more concerned about the Shortly after the new leadership came to office in
quality and scope of the BIT than on when the talks 2013, China introduced experimental Pilot Free
will wrap up (Caporal 2016). Therefore, the USTR Trade Zones (PFTZs) in Shanghai in 2013 and then
acknowledged China’s efforts on the BIT talks as in Tianjin, Guangdong and Fujian in 2015. PFTZs
“full engagement,” but complained that “China has do not focus mainly on trade liberalization, but
not yet decided to pursue a sufficient reduction of on trying and testing the risks of relaxing foreign
its investment restrictions to enable the successful investment-related regulations, involving the
conclusion of those negotiations” (USTR 2017). establishment of FIEs based on the negative list;
The Trump administration’s “America first” policy trade in services; capital controls; the convertibility
and the higher expectations of the US business of the Chinese currency, the renminbi; and
community will inevitably prolong the process of improving the standard of intellectual property
BIT talks between the United States and China. rights and trade facilitation. Streamlining the
government administration structure and
Compared to the China-US BIT negotiations, procedures are also part of the experiment.
the progress of the China-EU BIT negotiations
has been relatively slow. Prior to the start of The PFTZs can be regarded as China’s unilateral
the BIT negotiations in 2013, China signed a efforts to promote liberalization on foreign
number of BIAs with European countries in investment, which is in accordance with the
the 1980s and 1990s, with the main focus on practice and experience of the incremental
investment protection rather than on market approach toward reform and opening up in the last
opening. In order to deal with new challenges three decades (Ma 2008; Liu 2008). The political
in the Chinese market, the European Union leaders of different periods since the beginning
pushed forward the China-EU BIT negotiations of the reforms have emphasized that China, as a
to focus on issues such as higher-standard major developing country with a huge population,
should try and test each step of the reform and

4 Policy Brief No. 104 — April 2017 • Yong Wang


opening up policy before implementation. For Although the enforcement details have not yet
instance, the regulators call for coping vigilantly come out, it is believed that FIEs will be granted
with the potential risks of opening the financial more opportunities in China (Sun 2017).
markets to foreign investors, which is believed
to easily transmit into the whole economy.

However, the extension of PFTZs and unilateral


investment liberalization have gone hand in Implications for China-
hand with the progress of the BIT negotiations,
in particular those between China and the Canada FTA Talks
United States. In the eyes of political leaders,
the BIT talks let them play a game of building In policy planning, the Chinese government hopes
pressure on domestic reform by committing that FTA negotiations can follow the BIT talks with
to external obligations, as was demonstrated the United States and the European Union, and that
in China’s bid for World Trade Organization both BITs and FTAs are able to deepen the economic
accession, which stimulated the reforms of interdependence among the three major trading
SOEs and the government system. The BIT talks powers. The current harsh reality in Europe and the
are also in line with the political logic of the United States is making this blueprint more difficult
reform of China (China Government Net 2016). to realize politically, at least in the short term.

While China has offered significant concessions in However, one thing is certain: China will further
the China-US BIT talks (mainly pre-establishment open up its economy by engaging in more high-
national treatment with the negative list), it standard BITs and building its own FTA network
has made several efforts to cut down the length for domestic and international interests. As C. Fred
of the negative list with regards to market Bergsten argues, the progress on BITs will spill
access to FIEs. In preparing for the scenario of over to FTA talks (PIIE 2015), and with the raised-
concluding the BIT with the United States in late standard BITs China will sign, the standard of the
2016, China’s legislature, the National People’s investment-related part of FTAs will be boosted
Congress, voted to amend the four laws related as well. In recent years, China has signed 14 FTAs,
to FIEs in China, granting FIEs the right of pre- involving 22 countries and regions such as the
establishment national treatment combined with Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Singapore,
the negative list. The results of this liberalization Pakistan, New Zealand, Peru, South Korea and
of unilateral investment are encouraging. From Australia, to cover about 40 percent of China’s
January to June 2016, more than 99 percent total foreign trade (Xia 2016). Through the BIT talks
of the FIEs in the four PFTZs were established and unilateral liberalization, China is confident it
through filing rather than administrative approval; will be able to offer more assertive concessions
the government processing time was reduced to trading partners, including in the investment
to three business days down from 20; and the area. In the context of the US withdrawal from
93 restrictive measures in the 2015 edition of the TPP and rising protectionism, China has set
the Catalog of Foreign Investment (including the target that it will expand market opening in
19 items in the “encouraged” category with the financial, educational and cultural sectors,
limited share of ownership, 38 “restricted” liberalizing foreign investment in service industries
items and 36 “prohibited” items) have been such as pensions, construction, design, accounting,
reduced to 62 items in the 2016 edition (National auditing and e-commerce (State Council 2017).
Development and Reform Commission 2017). Although uncertainties have been raised on the
future of a BIT under the Trump administration,
More recently, the State Council (2017) promulgated it would be possible for a BIT deal to be included
a more radical document, the “Notice on Measures in the resolution of US-China trade relations.
for the Active Use of Foreign Investment in Opening
Up to the Outside World,” which introduces Signed in 2012, the Canada-China Foreign
new measures to enhance market access and Investment Protection Agreement was perceived
promote fair competition for FIEs in China. to be the highest-standard investment agreement
This document promises to greatly improve the China ever entered, according to Chinese analysts
market access of FIEs in the sectors of services, (Mofcom 2012) — until now, that is. Although it is
manufacturing, mining and infrastructure (ibid.). not known when China and the United States will

China’s BIT Progress and Implications for China-Canada FTA Talks 5


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— NDRC Leader’s Response to the Media
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China’s BIT Progress and Implications for China-Canada FTA Talks 7


CIGI PRESS
ADVANCING POLICY IDEAS AND DEBATE
cigionline.org

The Dragon’s
Footprints
China in the Global Economic
Governance System under the G20
Framework
Alex He
Under the shadow of the global financial crisis, China’s
participation in the Washington G20 Summit in 2008
marked the country’s first substantial involvement in
global economic governance. China played a significant
role in the global effort to address the financial crisis,
emerging onto the world stage of international
governance and contributing to global macroeconomic
policy coordination in the G20 ever since.

The Dragon’s Footprints: China in the Global Economic


Governance System under the G20 Framework examines
China’s participation in the G20; its efforts to increase its
prestige in the international monetary system through
the internationalization of its currency, the renminbi;
its role in the multilateral development banks; and its
involvement in global trade governance.

August 2016
978-1-928096-23-8 | paperback
978-1-928096-24-5 | ebook

CIGI Press books are distributed by McGill-Queen’s University Press (mqup.ca)


and can be found in better bookstores and through online book retailers.
CIGI Publications
Advancing Policy Ideas and Debate

Modernizing NAFTA: A New Deal for the North Sustainability Innovation in Canadian Small
CIGI Papers No. 123 — March 2017
American Economy in the Twenty-first Century Policy Brief No. 96 — February 2017
Businesses: What We Need to Know
Modernizing NAFTA: Sustainability Innovation in
A New Deal for the North
American Economy in the
CIGI Paper No. 123 Canadian Small Businesses:
What We Need to Know
CIGI Policy Brief No. 96
Twenty-first Century
Patrick Leblond and Judit Fabian
Patrick Leblond and Judit Fabian Sarah Burch
Sarah Burch
Key Points Introduction
→ Canada has pledged to reduce its

This paper proposes changes and additions that Canada has pledged to reduce its greenhouse
In light of ongoing international negotiations on climate
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
change, the announcement of the United Nations’
by 30 percent below 2005 levels
Sustainable Development Goals and controversial climate
by 2030, and has developed a Pan-
change policy proposals at multiple levels in Canada, it
Canadian Framework on Clean
is crucial to understand (and accelerate) sustainability
Growth and Climate Change.
innovation. In many cases, these innovations may

should be part of an updated NAFTA. The focus gas (GHG) emissions by 30 percent below
→ Canada must seek out every originate in the small business sector, which is responsible
opportunity to reduce GHG emissions for the majority of commercial GHG emissions (Aragón-
while enhancing economic and Correa et al. 2008; Martín-Tapia, Aragón-Correa and
environmental resilience. Rueda-Manzanares 2010), while also being a key source
of job creation and local prosperity. Although some data
→ Small and medium-sized enterprises exists that sheds light on small business demographics,
(SMEs) offer an untapped employee retention, and growth, much less is known

is on the NAFTA elements that have been subject 2005 levels by 2030, and has developed a Pan-
opportunity to spur innovation, about the nature of (and barriers to) sustainability
reduce emissions, create and retain innovation and entrepreneurship (especially in Canada).
jobs in the clean energy sector, This policy brief examines what is already known
and build local prosperity. about sustainability entrepreneurship in the SME
sector, and elaborates on the gaps in knowledge that
→ Better data on the Canadian small have stymied effective policy making. This argument
business sector is required to provide

to criticism since the agreement’s entry into Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and
is situated within the context of Canada’s intentions
a deeper understanding of the to create a nationwide price on carbon, and points to
organizational culture, structure, the futility of GHG reduction targets or climate change
leadership, and capacity gaps policies that are set in the absence of evidence-based
that must be filled to accelerate strategies to enhance entrepreneurship and innovation.
progress on sustainability.

force. It offers a fairly detailed road map to the Climate Change. Canada must seek to reduce
agreement’s modernization. This paper does not, GHG emissions while enhancing economic
however, provide a chapter-by-chapter, article-by- and environmental resilience. This policy brief
article review of NAFTA. Regardless of the rhetoric examines what is known about sustainability
coming from the Trump administration, it is the entrepreneurship in small and medium-sized
authors’ view that Canada’s position should be to enterprises and elaborates on knowledge gaps
approach any NAFTA renegotiation from a “best that have stymied effective policy making.
case” perspective in view of making trade and
investment in North America easier for business.

Intellectual Property Proliferation: Strategic China: Canada’s Strategic Imperative


Roots and Strategic Responses
CIGI Policy Brief No. 95
Policy Brief No. 95 — January 2017

China: Canada’s Strategic


CIGI Paper No. 121 Imperative
Dan Ciuriak
CIGI Papers No. 121 — March 2017

Intellectual Property Dan Ciuriak


Proliferation:
Strategic Roots Dan Ciuriak
and Strategic Key Points
→ China continues to grow in strategic
Introduction China continues to grow in strategic importance
Responses
With both the Canada-European Union Comprehensive

Intellectual property is essential for as a trade and innovation partner. A new China
importance as a trade and innovation
Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and the
partner: it features untapped growth
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) signed — although
potential from internal integration and
neither is fully sealed nor delivered1 — Canada has
is underwriting East Asian regional
ticked off its top-two trade negotiating objectives.
Dan Ciuriak integration through initiatives such as
the One Belt, One Road trade corridor,
The next big one is China. China has signalled its
interest and the case for Canada is compelling:

commercialization in the knowledge-based economy. is emerging — young, urban, university-trained


the Asian Infrastructure Investment
Bank and the Regional Comprehensive → China is the world’s third-largest economy
Economic Partnership Agreement. after the United States and the European
Union and the world’s largest trading hub;
→ From the cocoon of an aging
developing economy, a new China → China is home to more than 100 Fortune
is emerging — young, urban, 500 companies that are expanding their

However, the creation of intellectual property and tech savvy. Driven by its singular focus on
university-trained and tech savvy. footprint overseas as foreign investors;
→ Driven by its singular focus on → China’s development trajectory is increasing
technological advance, and fuelled the emphasis it will give to domestic priorities
by heavy research and development — and thus increasing the importance of
(R&D) spending and a rapidly strengthened treaty-backed market access;

rights (IPRs) has led to potential stumbling blocks technological advance, and fuelled by heavy
growing R&D workforce, China is
becoming an innovation hub. → China is rapidly developing as an innovation centre; and

→ China wants a free trade agreement


(FTA) with Canada; as globalization
faces headwinds in Canada’s traditional
1 Withdrawal from the TPP was on US President Donald Trump’s list of “first hundred
markets, Canada should seize the offer.

for industrialized research and development and research and development (R&D) spending
days” actions and on January 23 he signed an executive order withdrawing the
United States from the TPP. Questions about the net benefit of the TPP to Canada
remain open.

continuous and massively parallel innovation. and a rapidly growing R&D workforce, China is
This potential has been actualized through the becoming an innovation hub. China wants a free
untrammelled proliferation of IPRs in recent decades. trade agreement with Canada; as globalization
This paper argues that this proliferation has strategic faces headwinds in Canada’s traditional markets,
roots at the national level, based on the potential to Canada should seize the offer.
capture global rents through the internationalization
of IPRs.

Optimal Patent Regimes in a Globalized World: POLICY BRIEF


No. 89 • October 2016
A Transatlantic Perspective on CETA
Lessons for Canada A
TRANSATLANTIC
PERSPECTIVE
Key Points
• The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between
Canada and the European Union will reinforce the transatlantic alliance
between Europe and North America.
CIGI Policy Brief No. 89
CIGI Paper No. 120 Patrick Leblond
• CETA will generally be positive for businesses in Canada and Europe.

ON CETA
CIGI Papers No. 120 — March 2017 • CETA’s new investor protection mechanism achieves the right balance
between protecting business interests and allowing governments to regulate

Optimal Patent Regimes Patrick Leblond


their societies and economies according to their democratic mandates.
• As a best-in-class trade and investment agreement, CETA should serve as a
model for future trade liberalization agreements around the world.

in a Globalized World:
Lessons for Canada Joël Blit Introduction1

As the trade deal between Canada and the European


In the twentieth century, promoting trade between countries was focused, for
the most part, on tariffs. In the twenty-first century, the focus has shifted to
a much broader agenda, such that we no longer speak of “trade” agreements
per se, but rather of “economic partnerships,” “trade and investment” or “next
Joël Blit generation” trade agreements. This is because an important portion of these
agreements focuses on non-tariff barriers (NTBs) such as standards, regulations
and procedures. These “behind the border” (as opposed to “at the border”)

This paper discusses the theoretical case for Union is signed at a ceremony in Brussels following
barriers have become the main source of impediments to international trade,
since tariffs are now quite low (on average less than five percent), in particular
between rich countries.
CETA between Canada and the European Union is generally considered to be
a best-in-class next generation trade agreement that should bring important
economic benefits to both partners.2 However, in Europe, CETA has often

strong national patent regimes in the context of a a bumpy round of shuttle diplomacy, this policy
been an afterthought because the public has, for the most part, focused on the
Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which the European
Union and the United States are currently negotiating.3 From a European
perspective, this attention to TTIP makes sense, given that the United States
is the largest economy in the world and the European Union’s most important
trading partner. Nevertheless, in spite of its relatively smaller size, Canada

globalized world. The national treatment of foreign brief suggests that the Comprehensive Economic
represents an important economic partner for the European Union, in terms
of both trade and investment, and one in which the European Union has seen

1 This policy brief builds on the results of a conference on CETA between Canada and the European
Union that took place in Brussels on May 18-19, 2016. The conference was jointly organized by
the Centre for European Policy Studies and the Centre for International Governance Innovation
and brought together Canadian and European experts and policy makers to present their views

inventors gives countries an incentive to free ride, and Trade Agreement (CETA) would generally
on CETA. For more details on the event, please consult the following link: www.ceps.eu/events/
comprehensive-economic-and-trade-agreement-good-deal-european-union.

2 For official, early assessments of CETA, see the joint study by the European Commission and the
Government of Canada (http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2008/october/tradoc_141032.
pdf ), as well as the sustainability impact assessment sponsored by the European Commission
(http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2011/september/tradoc_148201.pdf ).

3 It has been suggested that CETA’s neglect by some groups was deliberate in order to avoid

and while this can be overcome through patent be positive for businesses in Canada and Europe
linking it to the more politically controversial TTIP.

rights harmonization agreements, these present and would reinforce the transatlantic alliance
coordination challenges. Theory and empirical between Europe and North America. CETA’s new
evidence suggest that Canada’s patent regime is investor protection mechanism achieves the right
doing little to promote domestic innovation, while balance between protecting business interests and
generating significant deadweight losses for the allowing governments to regulate their societies and
economy. The conclusion is that Canada’s interests economies according to their democratic mandates.
would best be served by a weaker national The policy brief outlines some of the key benefits
patent regime, subject to its current international that have been identified, arguing that CETA is seen
obligations. as a clear benchmark in trade policy.

Centre for International Governance Innovation


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