There are a lot of changes that are expected to happen within the United States as it moves into the new Biden Administration. What will these changes be and how will they affect the rest of the world? This was the topic of this month’s Kainach International Forum.
On February 15, 2021 Franz Kolb, director of international trade, diplomacy and protocol for the State of Utah’s Governor’s Office of Economic Development, facilitated the discussion on the effects that President Biden will have on the international stage; specifically if it would lead to more collaboration or isolation. The discussion talked about the history of relations each country has had in the U.S., how President Trump affected those relationships, and what is expected with President Biden. This month’s panel of experts included:
- The Honorable David Utrilla representing Peru, President of Utah Consular Corps and the President/CEO of the U.S. Translation Company
- The Honorable Baldomero Lago representing Spain, Honorary Consul of Spain and Chief International Officer at Utah Valley University
- Mr. Nitin Potdar representing India, Attorney, M&A Partner and J Sagar Associates in Mumbai, India
- Mr. Thomas Schuck representing Germany, Managing Director at SHS Strukturholding Saar GmbH in Saarbrücken, Germany
We were privileged to hear what the impacts of the incoming Administration will be from the perspectives of each of our panel’s native countries. Many people from all over the world were able to ask questions through our virtual forum.
Overall, participants were hopeful that there will be more collaboration, especially with many of the European countries. Here are some of the important talking points from the forum.
Q: What was the relationship between your country and the U.S. during the period after World War II until the Trump Administration?
Mr. Utrilla: Peru’s relation with the United States is not specific to a political party. The relations are beyond that, especially over the past two decades. The relations over that time have been the best they have ever been due to the free trade agreement that Peru made with the United States. It is considered the model of free trade agreements for other foreign nations. Why is that? Because it encompasses not just the trade commercial relationships, but it also has to do with the intellectual property, protection, human rights, and other aspects that aren’t commercial relationships. For the Peruvians, the United States is the number one partner in the world. Not just in the form of selling products to the United States but also buying products from the United States, which makes the relationship very healthy. You want to make sure that both countries are winning in these relationships.
Dr. Lago: It is very difficult to describe almost a century of relations between Spain and the United States. In past years, we have always had a great working relationship with the United States. We have come up with multiple agreements, fought with each other in wars, and even fought against each other. In 1953, President Eisenhower made a treaty with Spain to put 4 different military bases in Spain in return for money, and this is really the start of great relations with the United States. Since then, there have been many different events that have brought the two countries together. The relations became especially strong during the Obama Administration.
Mr. Potdar: The relationship between India and the United States has transformed from a bilateral one to a strategic one. The relationship has become increasingly multifaceted, covering cooperation in the areas of defense, trade, nuclear energy, and space technology. Economic relations are also incredibly good. The United States is India’s biggest export destination, it accounts for 16 percent of the exported goods from India.
Mr. Schuck: The relationship between the U.S. and Germany is quite a bit more complicated. During the Cold War, the relationship between the two countries was very good. More specifically, Western Germany had a great relationship with the United States. In the 90’s it changed a little bit. Germany supported the U.S. on some military issues, but during the Iraq War, Germany voted against the U.S. on the UN security council. At that time the isometric power situation of Germany became clear. Germany has one of the strongest economies in Europe, but virtually no military power.
Q. How did your individual countries perceive international relationships during the Trump Administration?
Mr. Utrilla: With the Trump Administration, the relationship between Peru and the United States was very good. The president of Peru was the first president from the Latin American countries that Trump invited to meet with. Trump kept stating how the free trade agreement with Peru was a model of what the U.S. should be doing with other countries, especially with NAFTA.
Dr. Lago: During the first year of Trump’s Administration, the relationship between Spain and the U.S. was essentially nonexistent because Trump was focusing on “Making America Great.” However, after the first year, the Prime Minister of Spain was impeached and replaced with someone from the social-democratic party in Spain. From that point on, Trump refused to work with Spain. There was a particularly striking moment at the G20 Summit where Trump just told the prime minister of Spain to sit down and not talk. There were a lot of tariffs imposed on Spain to end products being imported to the U.S. from Spain. Trump was not a loved U.S. President to the Spanish people.
Mr. Schuck: (Thomas shared his screen and showed a poll showing the different perspectives of Germans and Americans). The polls showed that Germans saw the relationship with the United States as very bad while Americans didn’t see a problem with the relationship. Germans did not like it when Trump was president. After President Biden was elected, there was a noticeable increase in positivity of Germans' view of the relationship with the U.S.
Mr. Potdar: India’s prime minister was a great friend of Trump. There were two sides of the coin when it came to India’s relationship with the United States during the Trump era. On one hand, Trump was very strong against China which was very much welcomed by India. On the other hand, the visa restrictions on the IT professionals, other engineers, and other immigration laws were very frustrating to IT companies in India. However, by and large, the relationship between the executives of the two countries was very good.
Q. What are the panelists and audience members expecting from the new Biden Administration?
Each panelist expressed a lot of excitement and optimism for the new U.S. presidency. All of their comments can be summed up in one sentence from Mr. Schuck, representing Germany, “It cannot get worse, from here it can only get better.” While not all of the represented countries had as bad an experience with the Trump administration as Germany did, everyone was very optimistic for what the Biden administration will bring to the national stage. Mr. Utrilla, representing Peru, also expressed excitement from the one million Peruvians living in the United States for immigration reform to start to happen during President Biden’s time in office.
Attending individuals from other countries as far as Jordan, Luxembourg, and Mexico, also conveyed their optimism for the incoming Biden Administration, eager to see the United States retake its role on the world stage by rejoining the Paris Climate Accord and rebuilding relations with NATO.
The next Kainach International Forum, “Empowering Women in Politics, Business, and Communities,” will occur on March 8th at 10:30 a.m. MT. It will explore the powerful and important impact of women in the international business and political fields. For more information, you can visit www.kainachforum.org.
The Kainach International Forum is grateful to the World Trade Association of Utah and the World Trade Association of Greece for promoting these free events.
About World Trade Association
World Trade Association of Utah is the state’s longest standing non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and advancing international trade and commerce. The WTA provides a monthly forum for the exchange of ideas and information through various workshops, seminars, publications and special events with leading government, business, academic and international trade organizations. Each year WTA bestows the leading International Person of the Year Award and the International Company of the Year Award.
For more information, visit wtaofutah.com