CECIMO, the European Association for the Additive Manufacturing industry, has endorsed a recent decision by the EU to prioritize additive manufacturing in trade deals on industrial goods with the United States. The commitment will seek to further ongoing EU-US cooperations pertaining to AM regulations and standards. As leaders in the AM sector, Europe and the U.S. are well positioned to accelerate 3D printing technology and its broad industrialization.
The EU recently declared a commitment to maintain additive manufacturing as key focus in trade talks with the U.S. for industrial goods. The decision will seek to address existing non-tariff barriers in the EU-US trade of AM solutions, which have posed financial and administrative burdens on exporters. For instance, there are lengthy processes to establish rules of origin for products, which add substantial costs and delays at custom, hindering the industry’s growth and expansion.
In addressing these existing hurdles, the EU hopes to open up opportunities for transatlantic AM trade. The question of standards is also of utmost importance, as establishing common technical requirements across Europe and the U.S. will facilitate trade, resulting in reduced costs, and more clarity for trade requirements.
“Addressing barriers to EU-US trade such as double certification issues would boost the growth of AM solutions in both economies,” commented Stewart Lane, Chairman of the CECIMO AM Committee. “The fact AM has been singled out in the trade discussions right from the beginning is a sign of the importance of this technology for industrial trade today’.
Dr. Roland Feichtl, CECIMO President and a member of the Supervisory Board of KRAUSECO Werkzeugmaschinen, added: “Both Europe and the US are notable actors in the global AM market. CECIMO will continue to cooperate with trade negotiators and convey the views of Europe-based AM exporters on non-tariff barriers encountered in EU-US trade. Our aim is to ensure negotiations progress and deliver a final trade deal that improve access of European AM companies to the US market.”
Today’s endorsement by CECIMO builds off of an agreement signed in July 2018 by the EU and United States which initiated talks on an ambitious bilateral trade deal for industrial goods. Since the agreement was signed, negotiations have been underway through a joint Executive Working Group with key trade officials from both sides. This past January, it was revealed that in discussions the EU Commission had singled out AM as a primary focus for EU-US cooperation.
CECIMO itself recently made additive manufacturing a larger priority in its organization with the establishment of the new additive manufacturing committee. The new committee, chaired by Renishaw’s Stewart Lane, is now the primary platform for discussing the challenges and opportunities for AM in relation to EU policy.
