2013 will be the year of an EU-US free trade agreement, or at least serious negotiations towards that goal. Although this possibility has been raised many times before, only to stall in the face of tough regulatory or subsidy issues, the economic stakes are higher and the political obstacles are lower next year. Both the EU and the US desperately need faster economic growth. Monetary policy is essentially exhausted; fiscal policy is set to tighten. That leaves trade: expanding markets by removing tariffs and – more importantly – non-tariff barriers, such as licencing requirements and anti-dumping measures. Small wonder that the Obama administration is actively pursuing the Trans-Pacific Partnership to the west and raising the prospect of a US-EU deal in the east.
2013年，歐盟(EU)和美國將簽訂自由貿易協定，或者至少朝著這一目標展開嚴肅的談判。之前，雙方曾有多次機會簽訂協定，結果卻因棘手的監管或補貼問題而未能成行。但明年的情況將有所不同，從經濟上講，此事的緊迫性將會加大，從政治上講，此事遇到的障礙將會減少。歐盟和美國都迫切需要加快經濟增長。貨幣政策基本上已經用光了，而財政政策將會收緊。如今只剩下貿易了，也就是通過取消關稅（更重要的是取消許可證制和反傾銷措施等非關稅壁壘）來擴大市場。難怪奧巴馬(Obama)政府積極向西方宣揚《跨太平洋戰略經濟伙伴關系協定》(TPP)，并在東方提出美歐簽訂貿易協定的前景。