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Although activities conducted by program participants under an Export Trade Certificate of Review (“ETC”) are treated as Business Confidential by the U.S. Department of Commerce, several participants have provided comments on the program that we can share:
U.S. Shippers Association (USSA)
“…We doubt that it would be possible to obtain the ocean rates and service we now enjoy under the Export Trade Certificate…The value of the Export Trade Certificate of Review lies in our association’s ability to negotiate ocean freight contracts, making our U.S. manufactured products more competitive with foreign producers who are not faced with the same types of antitrust concerns that exist in the U.S. The certificate is pro-competitive and efficiency generating on a global basis…”
.—. John S. Chinn, President, USSA
Florida Citrus Exports, L.C. (FCE)
“FCE is a good model for other firms that want to cut their export costs and export more effectively. The Certificate has been a valuable tool. It enables members to negotiate for more favorable transportation costs, and helps them avoid rivalry in the export markets. The coordination of transportation is particularly important in exporting a perishable commodity such as fresh citrus. Due to the need to move the product quickly through distribution channels, market conditions are highly responsive to the timing of shipments.”
.—. Charles Sanders, Legal Counsel
Trade Development Corporation of Chicago
dba “China Trade Development”
“China Trade Development Corp. is a full-service Asian trade consulting, market research, product sourcing, and export management firm…We are the first Asia specialists in the United States to be granted antitrust protection by the U.S. Departments of Justice and Commerce under the Export Trading Company Act. And to this day, we only export!
…All of our sales – industrial pumps, valves, motors, and the like – are American-made products which we export (into China primarily)…Our entire marketing program depends absolutely upon our certification with the U.S. Government’s Export Trading Company Act. Our competitors from Japan and Germany are giant firms operating with the imprimaturs of their own respective governments.
Frankly, purchasing agents in Chinese enterprises are often afraid to “make mistakes” by relying upon small business suppliers/vendors from foreign countries…the Export Trading Company Act provides export-related benefits far beyond the U.S. domestic antitrust arena…”
.—. Michael R. A. Wade, founder & Chief Executive Officer, China Trade Development
United States Surimi Commission (USSC)
“…Thanks in large part to the marketing opportunities that the ETCA affords to export trading companies such as USSC, our members now export more than a quarter of a billion dollars worth of seafood products to Asian and European markets each year…
…the Certificate of Review under which we operate has enabled our members to deal with a myriad of import quotas and other trade barriers that previously thwarted U.S.-owned fishing companies from successfully competing in various foreign markets-particularly Japan, the largest surimi market in the world…
…These are efforts that would be dauntingly difficult for relatively small independent companies to accomplish on their own behalf.”
.—. Doug Christensen, President, USSC
Wood Machinery Manufacturers of America (WMMA)
“The WMMA…has been a certificate holder since 1989. Foreign competition in this industry is extremely competitive. Most of our members are very small companies and alone, find it extremely difficult to market their products internationally. Under protection of an ETC members can jointly undertake market research, consolidate administrative costs and implement marketing campaigns.”
.—. Harold Zassenhaus, Export Director, WMMA
Northwest Fruit Exporters
“…Northwest Fruit Exporters, based in Yakima, WA is a non-profit organization representing 89 exporters of apples and 17 exporters of cherries…
…Of the total crop, on average 29% of apples and cherries are sold to export markets… Of these export sales, a very substantial portion is made by members of Northwest Fruit Exporters under the umbrella of the Export Trade Certificate.
Northwest Fruit Exporters needs joint export trade in order to succeed and compete effectively in foreign markets. The clarity of the Export Trade Act allows our industry to engage in joint export trade. This law helps create efficiencies in warehousing and handling by enabling U.S. exporters to negotiate better rates for larger volumes of trade. It allows exporters to consolidate market research and administrative costs, negotiate agreements, and pool resources.”
.—. James R. Archer, Manager, Northwest Fruit Exporters
Water & Wastewater Equipment Manufacturers Association, Inc. (WWEMA)
“It helps members reach collectively, emerging markets (notably including China) which they could not reach individually.”
.—. Susan G. Helling, Vice President, WWEMA
Independent Film and Television Alliance (IFTA)
(Formerly “AFMA”)
“With the Certificate in hand, we gained the needed flexibility to create meaningful export programs and encourage our members to participate.”
.—. Jean Prewitt, President and CEO, IFTA
“The Export Trade Certificate of Review helps AFMA to foster the exchange of information among its exporting members on all aspects of foreign market conditions and customers.”
.—. Lawrence Garrett, former Chairman of AFMA’s export association division
Virginia Apple Trading Company (VATC)
“…Over the last ten years, Virginia’s apple production has declined 35.4% while exports doubled from 2003 to 2004 when VATC was established. Under the ETC, Virginia has secured a foothold in several new, strategic markets worldwide. VATC has developed into the largest exporter of American apples to Cuba, accounting for 85% of all US apple exports to Cuba, and is now a supplier to such far reaching markets as Russia, the Arab Emirates, Maldives, Central America, and the Caribbean. In other words, the existence of the ETC has contributed greatly to making Virginia a more competitive grower with exports contributing to a larger percentage of total orchard sales.
…We are also striving to direct as much container traffic as possible through the Port of Norfolk, which results in additional business to the port as well as to transportation and port related industries that make up the entire export infrastructure of the state. In this way, VATC is having a multiplier effect for Virginia’s economy.”
.—. Richard Gilmore, President/CEO, The GIC Group agribusiness consulting firm , Alexandria, VA
Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI)
“…The Certificate…was primarily sought…in connection with OPEI’s preeminent role in the development of international standards covering the production and sale of outdoor power equipment in the international marketplace…The protections have provided a level of assurance and certainty to those participants in this process, through the recognition that these activities have been previously certified by U.S. antitrust authorities…OPEI relies on the Export Trading Company Act – and its Certificate of Review – to encourage standard setting activities that are designed to address various non-tariff barriers U.S. exports face in world markets.”
.—. Laurence J. Lasoff, Collier Shannon Scott, Counsel to OPEI
The Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT)
“From the beginning, (on May 19, 1987) when AMT received the first Certificate of Review issued to a trade association, AMT has seen the Certificate as a valuable means of enhancing the trade competitiveness of our members…the certificate has allowed our members to combine for overseas bids. In one notable case, our members were able to combine and cooperate to win the contract to supply a large Chinese aircraft plant with the machinery necessary to modernize and win Western aircraft parts contracts. Without the Certificate, such cooperation could never have occurred.
…AMT still values it and would recommend such certification to other trade associations and groups within industries that are interested in expanding export markets in today's highly competitive environment.”
.—. Dr. Paul Freedenberg, Government Relations Director, AMT
California Kiwifruit Exporters Association (CKEA)
“…The formation of the California Kiwifruit Exporters Association, under the auspices of the ETC Act, has helped to allow our industry to remain competitive in the highly complex foreign market environment. The members of the California Kiwifruit Exporters Association, accounting for about 90% of the California kiwifruit exports, continue to benefit from the open communication and joint efforts that are allowed under the ETC Act.
…It allows exporters to consolidate market research and administrative costs and to mitigate risks associated with nonpayment by buyers, demand slumps, or disruption in deliveries caused by political or natural events in particular markets.”
.—.Linda LaFrancis, President, California Kiwifruit Commission & Manager of CKEA
Ginseng Board of Wisconsin
“…95% of the nation’s ginseng is grown in Wisconsin, with approximately 250 farmers located principally in Central Wisconsin. 85% of the production is exported to Asia…
With stiff competition from Asian- and Canadian-grown ginseng, U.S. exporters need as many tools as possible to compete in the global marketplace. One of these tools is joint export trade, facilitated by the ETC Act…(This law) enable(s) numerous U.S. farmers, food processors and manufacturers to reach collectively export markets that they could not reach individually.”
.—.Joe Heil, President, Ginseng Board of Wisconsin
The following recent industry comments concern the use of an Export Trade Certificate of Review by U.S. industry to fill foreign import quotas that convey reduced tariff rates to U.S. exporters. Such quotas, typically negotiated between U.S. and foreign governments, are commonly termed “Tariff Rate Quotas” or “TRQs.”
Association for the Administration of Rice Quotas, Inc.
“…AARQ obtained an Export Trade Certificate of Review (ETCR) in January 1998…AARQ’s membership comprises over 40 rice millers and exporters located in 15 states. AARQ auctions the TRQs for brown and milled rice to any U.S. bidder through an open tender process. This system has benefited U.S. industry participants by maintaining competitive market access for U.S. rice in the face of prohibitive EU tariffs…
…AARQ’s operations under the ETCA foster export competition…U.S. rice industry participants – including many small and medium-sized firms – consequently remain or become competitive exporters, contributing to the health and sustainability of America’s agricultural trade…In sum, the ETCA has been instrumental for U.S. industries, and the rice industry in particular, in gaining U.S. government authorization…for industry management of export quotas, thereby allowing U.S. industries to obtain the intended benefits of negotiated market access.”
.—.Dickie Hollier, Chairman, AARQ
USA Poultry & Egg Council
“…the Export Trading Company Act is an important tool that can be used not only by private companies in attempting to compete more effectively in global markets, but also by industries and governments to find innovative and useful solutions in achieving new trade agreements…We are in an era, both in the World Trade Organization and in our various free trade agreements, where tariff rate quotas are being regularly used as a transition tool for increasing market access for agricultural products. While we still have to deal with TRQs and until there is free and open trade globally, the ETC will be an important tool to help solve problems of TRQ management that will invariably arise in many new markets.”
.—.comments of the USA Poultry & Egg Export Council
Corn Refiners Association (CRA)
“…CRA’s membership comprises every domestic producer of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). CRA became an Export Trading Company (ETC) under the ETCA in January 2003 for the express purpose of managing TRQs for HFCS to be granted by Mexico upon completion of negotiations between the United States and Mexico. This…management system will benefit U.S. HFCS producers by maintaining competitive market access even in the face of prohibitive Mexican tariffs on HFCS.”
.—.Audrae Erickson, President, CRA |
