Three senior officials from The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) spoke with Business Council members and partners ahead of their upcoming trade dialogue with their U.A.E. counterparts on July 15th. This occurred during a small, invitation-only virtual roundtable the Business Council hosted on Thursday July 2nd as part of its ongoing webinar series titled, “Looking Ahead: Conversations with U.S. and U.A.E. Business and Government Leaders.”

Jason Buntin, Director for Europe and the Middle East, Jacob Ewerdt, Director for Innovation and Intellectual Property, and Joan Hurst, Director for Agriculture Affairs at USTR shared details about the meeting agenda, which will focus on the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR), collaboration in food and agriculture, and other trade and investment issues.

After opening remarks, U.S. and U.A.E. business leaders shared their experiences, perspectives, and best practices on a wide range of issues, ranging from the seizure and destruction of counterfeit goods to the protection of IPR in the life sciences. Participants also noted the ongoing issue of U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports

The U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council has long served as a platform for public and private sector stakeholders to engage in discussion of key bilateral policy issues. Notably, in mid-June, the Business Council hosted a virtual business roundtable with U.A.E. Assistant Minister for Economic and Trade Affairs His Excellency Abdulnasser Alshaali, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Manisha Singh, and the other U.S. and U.A.E. government officials taking part in the U.S.-U.A.E. Economic Policy Dialogue (EPD) the following day.

For more information about the Business Council’s policy work, please visit the focus areas section of the U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council’s website or contact Mary Zuccarello at mzuccarello@usuaebusiness.org