DaimlerChrysler Chairman Schrempp Calls for
EU/US Free Trade Area

• New transatlantic relationship is needed to counter rising tide of protectionism on both sides of the Atlantic
• European Union (EU) and United States (US) must overcome differences, focus on upcoming Seattle trade talks and look towards eventual establishment of Free Trade Area

Philadelphia, Pa. -- DaimlerChrysler Chairman Juergen E. Schrempp called for the EU and the US to work towards the eventual establishment of a Free Trade Area as a way of revitalizing the transatlantic relationship and countering the rising tide of protectionism on both sides of the Atlantic.

During a speech marking the 50th Anniversary of Philadelphia's World Affairs Council, Mr. Schrempp said that the EU and the US should eventually abolish all remaining barriers to trade - both tariff and non-tariff- between Europe and the US while working towards making the upcoming WTO meeting in December and the Seattle round of trade talks following it the most successful ever.

"My idea is that our two great trading blocks should set a new, overriding vision for their economic relationship: a Transatlantic Free Trade Area," Mr. Schrempp said, "It is imperative we set ourselves the task of removing the many remaining trade barriers and harmonize regulatory standards to the benefit of workers, consumers and communities on both sides of the Atlantic." Mr. Schrempp added, "This over-arching objective could replicate, on a transatlantic scale, many of the benefits that the single market has already achieved in Western Europe."

"Now more than ever the EU and the US must have one goal in mind and that is ensuring that December's WTO meeting culminates in the most far-reaching global trade liberalization deal ever."

Mr. Schrempp described the steady increase in calls for protectionism, in the decibel level of trade disputes and increasing skepticism about the benefits of globalization and said that the EU and the US were in danger of losing sight of important long-term strategic objectives.

He added, "Isn't it ironic that at a moment when for the first time in history German and American soldiers are fighting side by side in the NATO alliance, Europe and the US are at daggers drawn over trade issues?"

Instead, Mr. Schrempp said, the foundations should be laid for global companies such as DaimlerChrysler to create common ground and common interests through wealth creation around the world. He commented, "The battles of tomorrow should be economic ... they should be about competition for markets not territory."

In closing, Mr. Schrempp alluded to the role DaimlerChrysler is playing bridging the Atlantic and called on others to do likewise: "I have no illusions about how difficult it will be to make this happen-whether it is a breakthrough in Seattle, or the longer-term goal of a Free Trade Area. But when we said we would merge Daimler-Benz and Chrysler there were plenty of naysayers-armchair experts-who told us it would never work!"