The U.S. Chamber’s efforts to build support for an ambitious Transatlantic Economic and Trade Pact are gaining traction.

It’s a straightforward idea, really: We think the world’s two largest economies should negotiate a trade pact covering goods, services, investment, regulatory cooperation, and procurement to stimulate growth and jobs on both sides of the Atlantic. Studies show a far-reaching agreement could bring benefits eclipsing other bilateral trade accords.

These efforts took a huge leap forward when President Obama and European leaders on November 28 launched the U.S.-EU High-Level Working Group on Jobs and Growth. The group was tasked with developing options “from enhanced regulatory cooperation to negotiation of one or more bilateral trade agreements,” according to the White House.

While the labors of the Working Group are at an early stage, it has already overcome the inertia that for many years has kept transatlantic trade from reaching its full potential – and that may be half the battle.

The Chamber has been actively lobbying officials in Berlin, London, Paris, and elsewhere to support the goal of a transatlantic trade pact. We’re gratified with the results so far.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy wrote to the leaders of the 27 EU member states that the “European Council should express its political will to strive for intensified transatlantic trade relations through an EU-US free trade agreement.” Chancellor Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron followed up by calling for a transatlantic trade deal in their Davos remarks.

Just a few days earlier, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte called for a “comprehensive free trade zone uniting the U.S. and the European Union” in a speech to AmCham Netherlands celebrating the organization’s 50^th anniversary.

On January 30, the European Council called on the High-Level Working Group to “consider all options for boosting EU/U.S. trade and investment.” This slightly more cautious statement appears to reflect a desire to avoid prejudging the group’s recommendations.

Elsewhere, senior officials from the Czech Republic, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Spain and Sweden have all told us of their governments’ strong support.

Certainly European business supports the idea. The Council of Presidents of BUSINESSEUROPE, the confederation of 41 leading national business organizations in 35 European countries, endorsed the initiative in early December. In response to a Federal Register notice, BUSINESSEUROPE and the U.S. Chamber are jointly submitting comments to the Obama administration on the scope and shape of the pact.

To take the next steps, U.S. Chamber President Tom Donohue will host the presidents of BUSINESSEUROPE and the industry federations of France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom in Washington on March 20 to deliver this message directly to U.S. policymakers and congressional leaders.

Others are expressing support as well. The Transatlantic Business Dialogue (TABD) endorsed the proposal in November. At its January 27 Executive Board meeting in Davos, Donohue joined with TABD leaders -- including two dozen CEOs and chairmen of U.S. and EU companies -- to push the project in discussions with U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, the White House’s Michael Froman, and European Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht.

Unsurprisingly, the American Chambers of Commerce (AmChams) throughout Europe are behind the idea and plan to raise it at the State Department’s February 21-22 Global Business Summit.

Good policy work is driving the debate as well:

• In 2010, the Chamber and our Swedish counterpart co-financed a study that found eliminating the already low tariffs on trade in goods could boost U.S. and EU GDP by $180 billion within five years.

• The Chamber’s Global Regulatory Cooperation Project funded a study demonstrating how the U.S. and EU could address regulatory differences that create obstacles to trade without undermining safety standards -- an approach echoed by Commissioner De Gucht in a January 20 speech.

• The Chamber led nine other U.S. and EU business associations in spelling out principles the United States and the EU should promote in terms of treatment of foreign investment, and we’re now working with our members to define the key elements for a services trade agreement.

• We’ve worked hard to get think tanks and others to consider these ideas, from Poland’s DemosEuropa, to the American Institute of Contemporary German Studies, to a high-powered German Marshall Fund Trade Task Force that will come out with recommendations soon.

Most important, of course, is the political imperative in both Europe and America to pursue the policies that will spark growth and jobs. Since these ideas are clearly part of the solution to those problems, we are delighted to feel the wind at our backs.