U.S. and European Union officials are in Miami this week for the 11th round of negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, a proposed U.S.-EU agreement that would govern about one-third of the goods and services traded in the world.

This round of T-TIP negotiations, which are being held at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Miami, began Monday and concludes Friday. The proposed trade and investment pact, which seeks to eliminate tariffs on trade and also tackle non-tariff barriers, has been under negotiation since July 2013.

Those potentially affected by the treaty — everyone from labor unions, environmental groups, importers and exporters, manufacturing associations and those both for and against — got to weigh in Wednesday at a stakeholders forum. Among the disparate speakers were representatives from the Teamsters, the AFL-CIO, Floridians Against Fracking, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Humane Society, the Sierra Club and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Some said the negotiations have been far too secretive and since they haven’t seen the text of U.S. proposals, they could only react to what they theoretically believe is under negotiation or what they think the trade pact should contain. In contrast, the European Union has chosen to make its negotiating positions public. However, there have been demonstrations in Europe attended by tens of thousands of people who oppose T-TIP.

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Miami Herald