SOTU Analysis: Opening new markets to American goods

In this series of blog posts, Senator Coons’ legislative staff shares their analysis of the President’s State of the Union address with Delawareans.

In his State of the Union address, President Obama reaffirmed his commitment to opening up fast-growing new markets around the world to American goods and services, creating new trade opportunities that will help American businesses grow and create jobs. 

President Obama proposed that we “complete negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership,” which would “boost American exports, support American jobs, and level the playing field in the growing markets of Asia.”  He also announced that the he will “launch talks on a comprehensive Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the European Union, because trade that is fair and free across the Atlantic supports millions of good-paying American jobs.”

Senator Coons has been working hard to help open new global markets where Delaware companies can sell their goods and services. As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Africa, he is working to ensure that these fast-growing new markets with burgeoning middle classes are open to American products to help strengthen our economy here at home.   

Gaining access to markets all over the world has been instrumental in helping the American economy grow and prosper over the last century.  To continue our economic recovery, Chris believes it is crucial that we continue to create better access to international markets and help American business and workers by removing barriers to our goods and products.

In particular, markets in both Asia and the European Union present important opportunities for Delaware's poultry companies to expand their exports. This trade will allow us to make progress in breaking down barriers to Delaware's poultry exports.

Video: Senators Coons, Durbin, Boozman introduce bill to increase U.S. exports to Africa

Senators Chris Coons, Dick Durbin, and John Boozman spoke on the Senate floor about legislation they introduced that would create American jobs by dramatically increasing the number of U.S. exports to Africa. 

The Increasing American Jobs Through Greater Exports to Africa Act of 2012 also aims to improve America's economic competiveness throughout the continent by forcing better coordination between U.S. government agencies and departments, establishing comprehensive strategic goals, and marshaling private investments to improve U.S.-Africa business activities. Six of the world's ten fastest-growing economies over the last decade are in Africa, creating extraordinary opportunity for American manufacturers.

Meeting with the Delaware Farm Bureau

Senator Chris Coons met with members of the Delaware Farm Bureau on Tuesday to discuss the past, present, and future of Delaware’s agricultural sector. Senator Tom Carper and Representative John Carney were also in attendance.

During the meeting, Chris highlighted some of his current work to advance Delaware’s agriculture, including his support for reauthorization of the farm bill. Chris is very supportive of conservation programs in the farm bill, including the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, and is working to protect funding for them. He is also a cosponsor of Senator Debbie Stabenow’s Grow it Here, Make it Here Biobased Manufacturing Act, which would help expand the advanced biofuels and bio-based manufacturing industries, using agricultural goods to make value-added products and create jobs.

Additionally, Chris discussed his recent visit to Cuba and Colombia in February with several other members of Congress where he promoted Delaware products, including poultry, soybeans, and soft red winter wheat.

The Farm Bureau meeting occurred on the same day as an announcement by the White House to sharpen efforts to protect the U.S. poultry industry and ensure fair trade policies with India. Chris was a leader in the Senate on this issue, leading a bipartisan group of 19 senators on a letter to United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk urging him to resolve India’s longstanding, non-scientifically based restrictions on American poultry.

Click here to learn more about Chris’ work for supporting and expanding Delaware agriculture.

Budget Analysis: Promoting trade

In today’s global economy, it is critical for American businesses to be able to sell their goods and services to customers overseas. Senator Coons has been working to ensure Delaware businesses have access to the more than 95 percent of the world’s consumers who live outside the United States.

At his first Opportunity: Africa conference held this year in Wilmington, Senator Coons worked to connect Delawareans with some of the nation’s leading authorities on sustainable development and trade with Africa to help open new markets for Delaware businesses.  

President Obama’s budget proposal contains several important programs that can help meet that goal. For example:

• Export promotion. The budget provides an increase of $19 million, for a total of $432 million, to strengthen efforts at five international trade-related agencies to promote and enforce international trade, and meet the goals of the National Export Initiative. The funding will be divided among the Export-Import Bank, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, the office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the U.S. International Trade Commission and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.   
• Economic Diplomacy. Included in the State Department budget is funds for economic diplomacy and export promotion with the goal of increasing the number of “market-oriented economic and commercial policy activities and accomplishments” by 15 percent by September 2013.

SOTU Analysis: New markets for American products

In today’s global economy, it is critical for American businesses to be able to sell their goods and services to customers overseas. President Obama focused on trade as an important element of our economic recovery in his State of the Union address this week, saying “I will go anywhere in the world to open new markets for American products.”

Senator Coons has been fighting to ensure Delaware businesses have access to the more than 95 percent of the world’s consumers who live outside the United States. Earlier this year, he supported a free trade deal with the Republic of Korea, noting that Korean company Harim’s investments in Delaware’s poultry industry clearly demonstrate the value of strong trade relations with Korea.

However, President Obama also laid out solutions for addressing trade relationships that don’t go quite so smoothly. In his address and an accompanying policy memo, he announced the creation of a new Trade Enforcement Unit to investigate unfair trade practices around the world. Chris is currently working with the U.S. Trade Representative to try and resolve an issue like this, where India has put unfair restrictions on American poultry.

President Obama also announced enhanced trade inspections, procedures which would be made easier by bipartisan legislation Chris authored with Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), which would allow U.S. Customs and Border Protection legal access to tools like UPC codes and product samples that help them track counterfeit products coming in to the U.S.  Chris also co-sponsored legislation to provide more resources to support trade enforcement that has been signed into the law of the land.

When it comes to trade, the most important tool we can provide to American businesses is a level playing field, and the new efforts announced last night will help ensure no foreign company has an advantage over products that are “Made in the USA, Manufactured in Delaware.”

Click here to read more about Chris’ work on job creation.

Video: Senator Coons, Rubio roll out bipartisan jobs bill

Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) hosted at a press conference on Tuesday to unveil their bipartisan bill to support job creation — the American Growth, Recovery, Empowerment and Entrepreneurship (AGREE) Act.  The AGREE Act stems from areas of common agreement between the President’s jobs plan, recommendations from the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, and plans put forward by both parties in Congress.

If enacted, the AGREE Act would do the following:

• Extend 100 percent bonus depreciation through 2012 for the full cost of qualified investments such as equipment and property.
• Extend Section 179 expensing levels for small businesses through 2012.
• Eliminate taxes on certain small business stock through 2012.
• Extend the Research & Development tax credit until 2013, increase the Alternative Simplified Credit (ASC) from 14 percent to 20 percent, and makes the ASC permanent.
• Provide veterans with a tax credit equal to 25% of the fee associated with starting a franchise up to $100,000.
• Provide a five-year exemption from Section 404(b) of Sarbanes-Oxley for the first five years of a company going public, or for those below $250 million in total gross revenue (whichever comes first).
• Eliminate the per-country numerical limitation for employment-based immigrant visas and adjusts the limitations on family based visa petitions from 7% per country to 15%.
• Protect intellectual property by clarifying the Trade Secrets Act, and making it explicitly clear that it is not a crime for federal officials, in the performance of their duties, to share information about suspected infringing products with the right holder of a trademarked good.

Delawareans are encouraged to click here to review the bill and share their opinions.

Click here to download a more thorough summary of the bill.  

Charts from SFRC hearing on China's role in Africa

At a Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs hearing this afternoon, Senator Coons will walk through a series of charts that compare the strategies of China and the United States in Africa. You can take a sneak peek below. Click to go see the chart at full resolution in our Flickr photostream.

Senator Coons votes for trade agreements with Korea, Panama

Senator Coons voted for two of the three free trade agreements submitted by the White House for Senate approval, supporting the deals with South Korea and Panama, but rejecting the deal with Colombia.

“Free and fair trade with the Republic of Korea means jobs in Delaware as more businesses join the hundreds of Delaware companies already exporting their products to the growing Korean marketplace," Senator Coons said. "Harim’s recent investment in Delaware’s poultry industry demonstrates the benefits to be gained by improving our trade relations with Korea, and today’s move to lower some of the barriers to trade there will take it a step further. Similarly, the agreement with Panama is a good opportunity for American businesses in another growing market. Panama has taken significant steps in the last few years to strengthen the rights of workers and its transparency on tax matters. Both of these agreements will help Delaware and that’s why I voted for them tonight.

Chris drew a line, though, on the agreement with Colombia, saying he had, "serious reservations about entering into a trade agreement with Colombia, the most dangerous country in the world in which to work as a trade unionist. Free trade with Colombia in the current environment does not mean fair trade for American workers, and I urge the Colombian government to address its pressing human rights issues by pursuing and prosecuting criminals who choose violence as a means of negotiating with trade unions."

The Senator considered each of the three agreements on its own merits, looking at the size of market opportunity for Delaware companies, protections for labor rights, respect for the environment, and defense of U.S. intellectual property rights. He warned, though, that the fulfillment of the agreements must be monitored. 

“None of these agreements will be worth the paper they're written on if we don’t follow up with adequate enforcement," Senator Coons said. "Free trade can never be fair trade without robust enforcement that includes strong protections for American intellectual property and a continued commitment to labor rights for all."

Senator Coons releases jobs plan

With input from Delawareans at three roundtable discussions the Senator hosted in August, and from hundreds of meetings and conversations with business leaders and out-of-work Delawareans this year, today Senator Coons released his six-point jobs plan, dubbed, "A Blueprint for American Jobs."

“As today's disappointing jobs report re-confirms,Congress needs to pursue a new jobs agenda,” Senator Coons said, “one that will not only lead to the growth of skilled and sustainable American jobs for decades ahead but that will also put Americans back to work now. Instability in the job market is an urgent threat that we need to address immediately.”

The strategy details 38 bills that Congress could pass and ideas that Congress should explore to help propel America’s economic recovery. They are spread across six key actions:

• Invest in critical infrastructure projects
• Reform our tax code and stabilizing our nation’s debt
• Offer greater support for America’s small businesses
• Develop and protecting the next generation of American technology and ingenuity
• Strengthen America’s global trade posture
• Invest in an educated workforce

You can read the full plan by clicking here or by downloading it as PDF file by clicking on the image above.

Senator Coons is eager to hear what you think about the strategy and to hear your own ideas for job creation. Click here to tell him what you think.

Capitol Hill Ocean Week 2011

This week marks the tenth annual Capitol Hill Ocean Week (CHOW), in which members of Congress, policy experts, advocates, and concerned citizens come together to discuss central issues facing the world’s oceans.  Senator Coons is excited to serve on the Honorary Congressional Committee in support of the 2011 CHOW.  

This year’s conference is titled American Prosperity and Global Security: Ocean Solutions for the 21^st Century.  Sponsored by the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, events include guest lecturers, round table discussions, and academic presentations, which take place on and around Capitol Hill from Tuesday through Thursday. 

As a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Chris recognizes an important and challenging responsibility in conserving and protecting our natural resources, including ocean resources.  The oceans present important economic opportunities, which Chris believes can help us create jobs and provide economic benefits for local communities.  We must conserve and protect the health of our oceans in order to ensure they remain productive for future generations.  

The focus of this year’s CHOW will help expand the current discussion on oceans to include securing ports and sea lanes for defense and commerce; development of renewable marine energy resources; ensuring productivity and sustainability of fisheries; providing opportunities for coastal and marine recreation; and remembering our maritime history.  With nearly 400 miles of coast and shoreline, much of Delaware’s economy and culture is tied to the ocean.  The fishing and seafood industry in Delaware supports nearly 1,500 jobs and over $70 million in sales every year.  The Port of Wilmington handles over 4 million tons of imported and exported cargo each year, bringing jobs and economic development to the state.  Finally, Delaware’s beaches are an important economic resource that draw over seven million tourists from across the country every year.

However, Delaware is also uniquely impacted by changes in the ocean itself and the policies that affect it.  With thousands of jobs and millions of dollars tied to fishing, shipping, and tourism, Delaware residents rely heavily on secure and sustained sea trade and travel.  Delaware’s maritime-related industries are vulnerable to environmental changes, such as sea level rise due to climate change, declines in fish and mussel populations, and powerful storms that damage beaches and coastal communities. National policies affecting international trade impact our local ports and the goods and businesses they bring to the First State.  Similarly, our nation’s energy policy impacts Delaware’s development of renewable energy resources including offshore wind.  The CHOW 2011 conference presents an important opportunity to discuss these issues in a global and forward-looking context.

Chris is excited to facilitate discussions with attendees from a range of industries and organizations in order to further bipartisan dialogue on ocean conservation and resource protection.  Follow this link to learn more about CHOW 2011. 

To read more about Chris’ work on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, click here.