USCIB Leads US Business Delegation to OECD Trade Week

Last week, USCIB led a delegation of over a dozen members to OECD Trade Week in Paris, actively participating in discussions on critical minerals security, level playing field, and distortions caused by non-market policies and practices.

The five full days of policy discussion showcased the OECD as an increasingly important venue for building evidence and policy alignment on the issues currently undermining business competitiveness in the global marketplace.

The week kicked off on October 5 with conversations on the outlook for OECD accessions of Indonesia, Thailand, Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria, a powerful mechanism for pressing market access reforms, and on promoting critical mineral supply chain diversity. It was followed by a Business at OECD (BIAC)-MEDEF B7 government-private sector conference, Securing Critical Minerals: From Analysis to Action, featuring Kenan Arkan (JP Morgan) and Carol Anderson (Microsoft) on panels identifying solutions to diversifying critical mineral supply chains, incorporating financing and bankability at the beginning of critical-mineral strategies, and stronger market incentives and alignment of traceability requirements for responsible production. Alice Slayton Clark, Senior Vice President, Trade, Investment and Digital Policy at USCIB, moderated the discussion on "Unlocking the Deal: Policy Frameworks to Bankable Projects."

On October 6, USCIB members attended a breakfast meeting with US Ambassador to the OECD John Hurley to discuss the role of the OECD in advancing US business interests. It was followed by a Japan-sponsored workshop on technology transfer, featuring USCIB board member and Food and Agriculture Committee Chair Alejandra Castro (Bayer) and Jason Bernstein (American Chemistry Council) emphasizing that infrastructure, finance, skills, regulatory quality, universities, research partnerships, and clear intellectual property ownership are essential to sustaining technology adoption. The day continued with a BIAC China Expert Group consultation with OECD ambassadors as part of the Informal Reflection Group featuring Lisa Schroeter (Dow), David Boman (Intuitive Surgical), addressing China excess capacity and non-market policies and practices (NMPPs). To conclude the day, USCIB and BIAC co-hosted an intimate Trade Committee dinner with the US Deputy Chief or Mission Rebecca Neff, the OECD Ambassadors to Japan and Sweden, and senior US, Norwegian, and OECD trade officials.

The OECD Global Forum on Trade convened on October 7, with USCIB members Schroeter and Ari Sulby (SIA) featured in conversations focused on policies undermining market-based competition, including industrial subsidies, excess capacity, localization requirements, forced technology transfer, and opaque state interventions. The week concluded with the OECD Trade Committee convening October 8-9 reviewing the state of the global economy, critical mineral supply chain and trade facilitation reports, committee leadership elections, and communications impacts.