President Barack Obama's reaffirmation of the U.S. commitment to a high-standard bilateral investment treaty (BIT) with China was welcomed by US-China Business Council President John Frisbie, who told reporters Feb. 11 during a conference call that the successful conclusion of a U.S.-China BIT would help expand market share for U.S. companies. Obama spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Feb. 10 by telephone. During the call, Obama “encouraged China to continue its move toward consumption-led growth and a market-determined exchange rate, reiterated his commitment to pursue a high-standard and comprehensive bilateral investment treaty” and called for work to narrow differences on cyber issues, according to a White House statement. The Xinhua News Agency reported that Xi said China and the U.S. should accelerate BIT negotiations and China hopes the U.S. will make efforts to relax restrictions on high-tech exports to China. Frisbie was one of three private sector officials briefing reporters in advance of the U.S.-China CEO Bilateral Investment Dialogue, which will be held on Feb. 12 at the headquarters of Goldman Sachs. The dialogue's hosts—Goldman Sachs, the Paulson Institute, the U.S.-China Business Council and the China Development Research Foundation—will use the dialogue to help mobilize further support of the business community for a U.S.-China BIT. U.S. and Chinese officials recently wrapped up a round of BIT negotiations in Washington. The BIT has the potential to transform the U.S.-China relationship by reducing investment barriers, which are effectively market access barriers, Frisbie said. China has investment barriers and ownership restrictions across a broad swath of industries, including insurance and automobiles, he said. A BIT would pick up unfinished business from China's World Trade Organization accession and also lay the foundation for China eventually joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Frisbie said.

Washington, DC, October 15, 2014—The US-China Business Council (USCBC) today organized a letter sent to President Obama and signed by 51 American CEOs supporting a high-standard US-China Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT). 

In the letter to the President, the CEOs urge the administration to “make the prioritization of a high-standard BIT between the United States and China a visible part of your visit to China in November and bilateral meeting with President Xi.”

“America's business leaders have sent a strong message to the White House supporting a high-standard US-China Bilateral Investment Treaty,” USCBC President John Frisbie said. “The administration should make the BIT a top economic focus of President Obama's upcoming meetings with PRC President Xi Jinping."

"Completing a high-standard US-China Bilateral Investment Treaty will have a significant and lasting impact on the trajectory of the US-China commercial relationship and a more equitable commercial framework to guide the relationship forward,” Frisbie concluded.

CEOs from the following companies signed the letter: Abbott, ACE Limited / ACE Group, Aetna, Alcoa, Amway Corporation, Applied Materials, Inc., Archer Daniels Midland Company, Cabot Corporation, Cargill Inc., The Carlyle Group, Caterpillar Inc., Celanese, Chemtura, Chindex International, Inc., Cigna, Citigroup, Inc., CNH Industrial, The Coca-Cola Company, The Cohen Group, Dell Inc., The Walt Disney Company, The Dow Chemical Company, DuPont, East Penn Manufacturing Co., Inc., Ecolab, Emerson, Ford Motor Company, The Goldman Sachs Group Inc., The IBM Corporation, Johnson & Johnson, Liberty Mutual Insurance Group, Mary Kay, Inc., McGraw Hill Financial, McLarty Associates, Mead Johnson Nutrition, MeadWestvaco Corporation, Merck & Co., Inc., Moody’s Corporation, Morgan Stanley, PepsiCo, Pfizer, Praxair, Inc., The Procter & Gamble Company, Thermo Fisher Scientific, The Timken Company, Towers Watson, Tyco International, UL, United Technologies Corporation, Walmart, and Westinghouse Electric Company.

The full text of the letter:

October 15, 2014
The Honorable Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Obama:

The commercial relationship between the United States and China is enormously important to our companies and the health of the American economy. Getting this commercial relationship right – by expanding the opportunities and effectively addressing the challenges – will help maintain American economic strength and leadership in the decades ahead.

Concluding a meaningful US-China Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) should be a top priority for your administration. We applaud your administration’s success in gaining agreement from China at the Strategic & Economic Dialogue two years ago to negotiate a BIT based on the American core principles. We further noted President Xi Jinping’s statement at this year’s Strategic & Economic Dialogue to negotiate with the United States a high-standard BIT as soon as possible, and appreciate the work you and your administration did to gain that pledge.

It is now time to move ahead to conclude the treaty text negotiations and begin work in early 2015 on ensuring China includes only a narrow list of excluded sectors (the “negative list”). Investment barriers are market access barriers, plain and simple. If China can significantly reduce its negative list and open markets to American manufacturers, agriculture producers, and service providers, you will find the business community fully engaged and supportive of your leadership to gain Senate approval of the treaty. 

We urge you to make the prioritization of a high-standard BIT between the United States and China a visible part of your visit to China in November and bilateral meeting with President Xi. There are few other commercial outcomes that would gain as much support from business leaders in both the United States and China. Passage of a high-standard US-China Bilateral Investment Treaty would have a significant and lasting impact on the trajectory of the US-China commercial relationship, and create a more equitable framework to guide the relationship forward.

Sincerely,
Miles D. White
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Abbott 

Evan G. Greenberg
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
ACE Limited/ACE Group

Mark T. Bertolini
Chairman, CEO and President
Aetna

Klaus Kleinfeld
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Alcoa

Steve Van Andel
Chairman
Amway Corporation

Michael R. Splinter
Executive Chairman
Applied Materials, Inc.

Patricia A. Woertz
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Archer Daniels Midland Company

Patrick M. Prevost
President and Chief Executive Officer
Cabot Corporation

David MacLennan
President and Chief Executive Officer
Cargill Inc.

David Rubenstein
Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer
The Carlyle Group

Doug Oberhelman
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer 
Caterpillar Inc.

Mark C. Rohr
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Celanese

Craig A. Rogerson
President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board
Chemtura

Roberta Lipson
Chief Executive Officer and President
Chindex International, Inc.

David Cordani
President and Chief Executive Officer
Cigna

Michael Corbat
Chief Executive Officer
Citigroup, Inc.

Richard Tobin
Chief Executive Officer
CNH Industrial

Muhtar Kent
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
The Coca-Cola Company

The Honorable William S. Cohen
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
The Cohen Group

Michael S. Dell
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
Dell Inc.

Robert A. Iger
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
The Walt Disney Company

Andrew N. Liveris
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
The Dow Chemical Company 

Ellen Kullman
Chair of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
DuPont

Daniel R. Langdon
Chief Executive Officer
East Penn Manufacturing Co., Inc.

Doug Baker
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Ecolab

David N. Farr
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Emerson

Mark Fields
President and Chief Executive Officer
Ford Motor Company

Lloyd Blankfein
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
The Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Ginni Rometty
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
IBM Corporation

Alex Gorsky
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Johnson & Johnson

David H. Long
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Liberty Mutual Insurance Group

David Holl
President and Chief Executive Officer
Mary Kay, Inc.

Harold McGraw, III
Chairman of the Board
McGraw Hill Financial

Thomas F. “Mack” McLarty
Chairman
McLarty Associates

P. Kasper Jakobsen
President and Chief Executive Officer
Mead Johnson Nutrition

John A. Luke, Jr.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
MeadWestvaco Corporation

Kenneth C. Frazier
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Merck & Co., Inc.

Raymond W. McDaniel
President and Chief Executive Officer
Moody’s Corporation

James P. Gorman
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Morgan Stanley

Indra K. Nooyi
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
PepsiCo

Ian C. Read
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
Pfizer

Stephen F. Angel
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
Praxair, Inc.

A.G. Lafley
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
The Procter & Gamble Company

Marc N. Casper
President and Chief Executive Officer
Thermo Fisher Scientific

Richard G. Kyle
President and Chief Executive Officer
The Timken Company

John J. Haley
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Towers Watson

George Oliver
Chief Executive Officer
Tyco International

Keith E. Williams
President and Chief Executive Officer
UL

Louis R. Chênevert
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
United Technologies Corporation

Doug McMillon
President and Chief Executive Officer
Walmart

Danny Roderick
President and Chief Executive Officer
Westinghouse Electric Company