According to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), the United States' trade and investment relationship with the countries of Europe is the largest and most complex in the world. The member states of the European Union (EU) collectively represent a market of nearly 500 million consumers. Two-way U.S.-EU trade has been roughly balanced over time and the very high levels of foreign investment accounted for by each in the other's markets means that the transatlantic economy is arguably the most integrated on Earth.
ANSI maintains active relationships with its counterparts in Europe, including the European Standards Organizations (ESOs). In addition, ANSI and the ESO’s cooperate with the U.S. government, European Commission, and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) to lead the U.S.-EU standards and conformance interaction.
In an effort to strengthen transatlantic collaboration on standards, conformance, and market access issues, ANSI and the three ESOs — the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC), and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) signed a document detailing the ANSI-ESO Principles of Cooperation on August, 2018.
ANSI and the ESOs have also developed guidance documents related to the respective standardization systems addressing stakeholders’ typical questions and helping stakeholders understand the systems better as stepping-stones to improved market access.
