Trade Fuels U.S. Growth

One of the best ways to preserve and create jobs is expanding markets for U.S. products.  Emerging economies have city skylines constantly under construction.  People earning better wages than ever are buying goods they could never afford before.  U.S. products and services are second to none.  They should fuel the boom.  

Unfortunately, U.S. producers aren’t getting enough access to new markets.  The rest of the world has been moving forward with trade expansion, while the President has put the United States on the sidelines, at the expense of America’s workforce. 

Employers and entrepreneurs in manufacturing, agriculture and the service sector need new market opportunities to grow businesses and create jobs.  The President has made a commitment to doubling U.S. exports.  That’s impossible to achieve on the margins, without enacting pending trade agreements.  This week, the administration said the President intends to submit the U.S.-Korea trade agreement to Congress “in the next few weeks.”  The White House should hold to this timeframe.  A big, new export market is exactly what U.S. producers need.  If and when the agreement comes to Congress, I’ll do everything I can to help get it approved.

Next, the White House needs to commit to action on trade agreements with Colombia and Panama.  Outstanding issues need discussion and resolution.

Farmers alone would benefit significantly from pending trade agreements.  The American Farm Bureau estimates that U.S. farm exports could increase by more than $815 million per year to Colombia; more than $195 million per year to Panama; and more than $1.8 billion per year to South Korea. 

American producers want new business. Caterpillar is waiting to export more bulldozers made in Illinois to Colombia under the trade agreement, signed in 2006 but never implemented.  If U.S. companies can’t get access to foreign markets, companies in other countries will.  Let’s put American products in more places on the globe and help get American workers back on the job through trade.