National Foreign Trade Council Urges President Obama To Pursue Trans-Pacific Partnership Negotiations
November 12, 2009The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) has publicly urged President Barack Obama to use the occasion of his visit to Asia next week to move forward with negotiations to join the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (TPP).
In a letter (PDF) sent to the President, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk (USTR) and Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke, NFTC President Bill Reinsch outlined the economic benefits of advancing the negotiations, including the opportunity to increase U.S. exports, generate jobs for the U.S. workforce, and advance trans-Pacific economic integration.
The letter reads in part:
As an organization comprised of U.S. companies representing a broad cross section of industries that drive the American economy, the NFTC strongly supports deepening ties and expanding the scope of our economic and strategic relations with trading partners in the Asia-Pacific region, starting with the negotiation of a TPP with Singapore, Chile, New Zealand, Brunei Darussalam, Australia, Peru, and Vietnam. The TPP is an ambitious effort to craft a high-standard plurilateral FTA spanning three continents.
The Asia-Pacific region is key to maintaining and increasing U.S. competitiveness in the world. APEC economies are among the most dynamic in the world and the nations who have signed on to negotiate this next broader phase of the TPP are those willing to move forward to further reduce barriers to trade and investment. As a stimulus to recover from the global economic crisis and increase U.S. exports and create high-quality American jobs, the TPP negotiation is “shovel ready” to begin and sends a strong message to the world that American workers, farmers, ranchers, and business will not sit on the sidelines as the rest of the region moves forward with market opening initiatives to assure their nations’ advantage in global supply chains.
America’s seat at the table in TPP will assure that a high standard agreement will be created, that has the potential to pull in larger economies in the region. However the time to act is now. The region is moving forward and is inviting us to join them but has made it clear that our absence will not deter their momentum. Therefore, we urge you to use this visit to Asia and the APEC Ministerial to signal our willingness to join in this important effort.
