Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Alcune riflessioni sulle implicazioni per l’industria europea e americana

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is an agreement, currently under negotiation, between European Union and United States aimed at creating a wide free trade area. The agreement should include the reduction of both tariff and non-tariff trade barriers, the access to public procurement, the regulation of foreign direct investments and the denition of shared technical standards in some industrial sectors. The debate on the impact of such partnership is particularly erce, but still scarce are the analyses trying to forecast the possible consequences of the agreement on the two parts. This work offers some preliminary insights on the effects that TTIP could have on the sectoral industrial dynamics of the two partners, starting from a comparison of their productive systems. In particular, our research questions are the following: is it reasonable to expect that both sides have equal interests in the signature of the agreement? Is there any evidence of a possible unequal impact on the different industrial sectors? The main aim is to suggest some preliminary considerations on these issues, starting from a comparative analysis of the productive systems in the United States and in Europe. Subsequently, analogies and differences will be highlighted, on the basis of which to identify some first policy indications.