The highest-ranking German government official to ever visit campus spoke with Elon University students on Wednesday in a program sponsored by the Business German Speaker Series and the Student Professional Development Center.
By Kaitlin Dunn ’16
A German official whose role in the United States is to help promote economic cooperation between both countries visited Elon University on Sept. 24, 2014, to make the case for a new trade agreement between the U.S. and the European Union.
German Consul General Christoph Sander also spoke to a packed LaRose Digital Theater on the specific relationship between the United States and Germany, noting the role of Americans and their NATO allies in breaking down the Berlin Wall a quarter century ago.
For Sander, the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is critical to making trade easier. “Both the EU and the U.S. are democratic nations,” he said. “We share the same values and if we were to agree to the same standards, it would drive the world market.”
The TTIP negotiation process started between the European Union and the United States in 2007 when business leaders studied issues hindering trade, including tariffs and business standards and regulations.
Because the United States and the European Union do not have a free trade agreement, businesses have to pay tariffs when shipping between the two, he said. Although many German companies such as BMW, Volkswagen and Mercedes have established plants in the United States, when Audi decided to build a North American plant, it chose instead to go to Mexico.
A major reason for the decision was because a free trade agreement between Mexico and Europe, and Mexico and the United States, allowed Audi to not pay tariffs when shipping its vehicles.
A much wider part of the TTIP agreement focuses on industry standards. Sander gave the example of a company doing drug research in the Triangle. If the company creates a medicine and wants to sell it in Europe and the United States, it would have to pass two different sets of regulations, ultimately doubling the cost of getting the drug on the market.
Sander said that if the drug is good enough for people in the United States, it should be good enough for people in Europe.
However, there is going to be a lot of work from both sides if TTIP or a similar agreement were to pass. There is currently a lot of opposition in Germany to TTIP, he said, from people who believe that it is a conspiracy by larger companies to take over small businesses. Currently the agreement is at an impasse, but Sander believes it will eventually pass and that both sides will benefit from it.
In the United States, there are six consul generals representing Germany. Sander is based in Atlanta, and his region includes Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, all states with a large German presence.
Volkswagen is based in Tennessee; Mercedes is in Alabama; and BMW is located in South Carolina.
Germany has a large presence in North Carolina as well. German companies have invested more than $3 billion dollars in the Tar Heel State, creating more than 26,000 jobs. Germany has one of the largest demographics and one of the strongest economies in Europe, making its markets a valuable target for American businesses.
Sander closed his talk by citing some of the challenges Germany today confronts. He touched on the struggle to retain enough young people in Germany to maintain its social security system, the push to keep producing high-tech items to keep up with the rest of the world, and Germany’s attempts to be more environmentally friendly.
He ended on a positive note, saying he thinks Germany will continue to thrive. “Solutions,” he said, “can be found.”
Sander’s visit was co-sponsored by the Business German Speaker Series, led by Associate Professors David Neville and Scott Windham, and the Student Professional Development Center. “He has a good view and connections that we can use, and I think he can give us valuable insight as we try to grow our Business German program,” Neville said.
Ryan Finn, an Elon University student who attended the talk, is enrolled in the university’s dual-degree business program with plans to study for two years in Germany. Finn said he believed the presentation would give him critical knowledge.
“This is one of the most important things the university has hosted,” Finn said. “Germany is one of our most valuable trade partners in Europe. I thought it was really interesting to hear his views”
Sander said he encourages students to learn German because it helps them to understand more about German culture and the rest of the world.
“Germany needs young Americans,” he said. “And it’s a win-win because America needs young people that understand the world that can move around in a globalizing market force.”