WHEREAS, The Ninety-Ninth Illinois General Assembly of the State of Illinois has recently passed House Resolution 11 in support of passage of the Trans-Atlantic and Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) by the United States Congress, which has the Constitutional authority to regulate commerce with foreign nations; and
WHEREAS, The Chicago City Council has been informed of the pending legislative status of T-TIP in Congress and its endorsement from the Ninety-Ninth Illinois General Assembly ofthe State of Illinois by Alderman Edward M. Burke; and
WHEREAS, The United States, recognizing the economic importance of removing tariffs and other barriers to trade and investment in goods, services and agriculture, commenced negotiations with the European Union (EU) for a T-TIP free-trade agreement in July 2013; and
WHEREAS, Ten rounds of negotiations between EU representatives of the twenty-eight member nations and the United States have taken place; and
WHEREAS, The United States and the EU share an historically productive trade relationship that has served both economies in mutually beneficial ways and the two sides comprise nearly half of the world's gross domestic product and thirty (30) percent of global trade; and
WHEREAS, American investment in the EU is three times greater than investment in Asia, while conversely, EU investment in the United States is eight times that of the combined EU investment in India and China; and
WHEREAS, Passage of T-TIP will serve to enhance regulatory cooperation and compatibility between partners and boost Trans-Atlantic economic growth through the reduction of tariff and non-tariff barriers that decrease and inhibit the economies of U.S. and the EU and foster a transparent trade environment; and
WHEREAS, Illinois is the fifth largest state-exporter of goods and services to the EU, accounting for 54% of goods exported from the state in 2013; and
WHEREAS, European investment supports 183,000 jobs in Illinois; and
WHEREAS, IBM's Global ...
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