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The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is a free trade agreement currently being negotiated between the EU and USA. The aim of the agreement is to reduce ‘barriers to trade’ and to enhance the compatibility of regulations and standards. The first round of negotiations was held in July 2013 and the most recent round—the ninth—took place in April 2015. Tariffs between the USA and EU are already low, and are likely to be easily reduced or eliminated under an eventual agreement. However, measures to reduce non-tariff barriers to trade and investment could prove harder to agree. Areas of particular contention include food standards and investor-state dispute settlements. If an agreement is reached between the two negotiating authorities it will need to be ratified by all Member States of the EU and the European Parliament before it can come into force.

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