The U.S. and the EU have been in negotiations for a year to forge a free trade agreement that would establish a trading bloc that would involve 800 million people and account for half of the world’s economic output. Early optimism that the agreement would be formed by 2014 has cooled amid EU public opposition to genetically engineered foods, ongoing spying scandals, and the U.S. Congress being unwilling to grant President Obama authority to establish trade deals fearing another trade deal would mean job losses. Political counterparts in the EU are also reluctant to sacrifice political gain in exchange for an unpopular trade agreement. It was hoped that the agreement, which would be worth US$1.1 trillion, would cement global safety standards and would prove to be a hedge for the U.S. and EU against the growing economic and trade power of China and emerging economies. The EU’s ban on U.S. poultry meat which is rinsed in chlorine to kill germs after slaughter, hormone-treated beef, and genetically modified crops, as well as disagreements concerning the agreement’s investment rules have all caused roadblocks for the trade talks.
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