🔒CT legislature considers bills to create trade commissions with Germany, India

For the third year in a row, the state legislature is considering bills to establish international trade commissions, this time with both Germany and India. Two bills have been introduced by the legislature’s Commerce Committee. Senate Bill 132 would create a Connecticut-Germany Trade Commission, while SB 133 would create a Connecticut-India Trade Commission. Over the past two years, the legislature has approved bills creating trade commissions with Ireland and Puerto Rico. A bill proposed last year to create a trade commission with Taiwan did not pass. The Commerce Committee held a public hearing on both bills on Tuesday, receiving predominantly positive testimony supporting each commission. That included testimony submitted by Sebastian Wogenstein, Ph.D., an associate professor of German at the University of Connecticut who also serves as co-director of the Connecticut/Baden-Würtemberg Human Rights Research Consortium at UConn. The consortium promotes and supports academic collaboration between researchers at universities and other institutions in Connecticut and in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. “I believe the establishment of such a trade commission is an excellent proposal to promote and boost Connecticut’s economy, and it is especially important in the current moment,” Wogenstein stated in his testimony. He said he assists students who major in German and either engineering or business and spend semesters abroad at a German university and then intern with a German company or research institute. In the past five years, he said, UConn has placed interns with “a range of globally known companies, including MTU Aero Engines, BMW, Mercedes-Benz,” as well as with Siemens, BASF, TRUMPF, Unilever, STIHL and Boehringer-Ingelheim. “Anyone familiar with the corporate landscape of the state of Connecticut will know that many of these companies have manufacturing sites or are in other ways active in Connecticut,” Wogenstein said He added that establishing a trade commission with Germany would not only promote trade with them, but also “will also send a signal that Connecticut remains a trusted and globally engaged partner.” Separately, Rocky Hill Mayor Allan Smith and Town Councilor Zachary van Luling submitted co-signed testimony backing both trade commission bills. They note their town hosts facilities of several Germany-based companies, while also having a growing Indian population. Smith and van Luling stated the bills would establish “durable civic infrastructure to deepen trade, investment, and institutional relationships with two of the most consequential economic partners for a state that depends on advanced manufacturing, precision supply chains, research capacity, and a globally competitive workforce.” Thomas Abraham, Ph.D., founder and chairman of the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin International, or GOPIO, submitted testimony in support of the trade commission with India. The commission would be well-positioned, he said, “to leverage the 2026 interim trade agreement between the United States and India,” which reduces U.S. tariffs on items such as pharmaceuticals, textiles and footwear; secures increased Indian commitments to buy U.S. energy and information technology; and reduces Indian tariffs on industrial and agricultural products. “A Connecticut-India Trade Commission can serve as a strategic vehicle to ensure that Connecticut businesses fully benefit from these evolving trade frameworks,” Abraham said.