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Resources for American Prosperity Fact sheet released by the Bureau of Public Affairs U.S. Department of State, December 15, 1999

A major goal of U.S. foreign policy is to promote American prosperity within a growing and healthy world economy, and to ensure that our farmers, ranchers, workers, and businesspeople have a level playing field on which to compete.

The American economy is strong today because of the energy, innovation and skills of our people. We have the most competitive economy on Earth. Our foreign policy cannot take credit for that, but we can and do help to sustain it.

Trade Means Jobs: Since President Clinton took office, we have negotiated more than 300 agreements to help reduce tariffs on the sale of American goods and services. Today, trade is responsible for more than 11 million U.S. jobs. U.S. exports to the developing world -- our fastest growing trade partner -- totaled $275 billion in 1997 alone.

Helping American Business: The State Department consults regularly with business leaders to ensure that their views are taken into account when foreign policy decisions affecting them are made. Our embassies are charged with knowing the local market, recognizing opportunities, and helping to ensure that American businesses can compete fairly. This pays off in contracts signed, right protected and jobs created. Sectors that have benefited include agriculture, telecommunications, aviation, manufacturing and financial services.

Protecting American Genius: The State Department works hard to safeguard America's intellectual property rights, and prevent counterfeiting that costs our industries as much as $200 billion a year.

Leveling the Playing Field: The State Department has aggressively promoted anti-corruption efforts because we believe other countries should observe the same high ethical standards we set for ourselves. For more than 20 years, it has been a crime for U.S. companies to bribe foreign officials in order to win contracts. Our competitors have faced no similar penalties and in some cases could even deduct the cost of bribes from their taxes. We recently negotiated an agreement that will criminalize foreign commercial bribery throughout the industrialized world. In one recent instance, we learned about a bribe offered by a foreign firm and promptly exposed the corruption; the contract was later awarded to a U.S. firm based on fair competition.

Buying American: Almost one-half of the State Department's budget, and 70 percent of USAID's are spent in the United States. We buy American.

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