Secretary's Speech

Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez
Remarks to National Foreign Trade Council
Washington, D.C.

Thank you, Bill, for the introduction. Welcome, everyone.

It’s good to be in an audience with so many friends. I see my friend Anne Alonzo is here. Hello Anne. Thank you so much for all you have done to help promote free and fair trade through this organization. I wish you much success in your new role as Vice President of Global Public Policy with Kraft.

The National Foreign Trade Council is an exceptional organization that understands the role of America in the world economy.

Opening markets is a central piece of President Bush’s pro-growth agenda. Total U.S. exports last year were up 12.7 percent to $1.4 trillion, an all-time record. Our second quarter GDP was 3.8 percent and the single biggest contributor to economic growth was exports.

Now is the time to give American exporters the tools they need to continue to expand and grow.

Congressional approval of the four pending FTAs with Peru, Colombia, Panama and South Korea will further open markets of more than 126 million people with a combined GDP of $1.1 trillion.

The economic case is clear. Our exports to Latin American FTA countries are up by nearly 60 percent since 2001, outpacing the growth in exports to the rest of Latin America and the rest of the world.

Our Latin American FTAs have produced results:

• In 2006, U.S. exports to Chile were up 30 percent.
• And in the first half of this year, our trade surplus with the six CAFTA countries doubled to $1.2 billion—over twice the level of the first six months of 2006. Before CAFTA, we had a trade deficit with those countries.

More than 80 percent of imports from these three countries already enter the U.S. duty-free. Congress has already given their farmers, ranchers and workers preferential access to our market. Why would Congress not do the same for our farmers, ranchers and workers?

Passage of these FTAs will level the playing field for U.S. exporters, create better-paying jobs for Americans, and provide new opportunities for American innovators and entrepreneurs.

Last month, I traveled to Peru, Colombia and Panama. I was overwhelmed by the political and economic progress in each country—particularly in Colombia. I have never seen such a turnaround as I did in Medellin.

Colombia is a foreign policy success story:

• Plan Colombia, to which we have contributed $5 billion, has helped reduce violence throughout the country;
• Since 2000, kidnappings are down by 76 percent, terror attacks by 61 percent, and homicides by 40 percent.
• Trade unionists deaths have decreased by about 70
• percent between 2001 and last year;
• Between 2000 and last year, 25 percent of Colombians who were in poverty were lifted out;
• Colombia’s economy grew eight percent in first quarter of 2007 and an average of 5.2 percent each year since 2002;
• They are one of our staunchest allies in the region;
• They are partners in the global war on terror.

We must not turn our backs from these important allies.

After decades of violence, poverty and instability, the tides have begun to turn. These FTAs are good for democracy and will help Peru, Colombia and Panama on their paths to peace, true social justice and prosperity.

Last week, President Bush sent Congress the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement. We look forward to working with in a bipartisan way to pass all four agreements.

Back in 1961, President John F. Kennedy created the Alliance for Progress for Latin America. As President Kennedy said then, we should seek:

“To build a hemisphere where all men can hope for a suitable standard of living and all can live out their lives in dignity and in freedom. To achieve this goal, political freedom must accompany material progress...a tribute to the power of the creative energies of free men and women, an example to the entire world that liberty and progress walk hand in hand.”

Ladies and gentleman, I wonder what John F. Kennedy would say about our debate today? I believe he would encourage us to move forward and seek greater cooperation with our hemisphere. Thank you and have a great evening.