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Washington, May 17 – The
United States is missing out on opportunities to boost trade and jobs: To
create the 20 million jobs we’ll need by 2020, we must leverage the opportunities
presented by trade, according to a new report commissioned by the U.S. Chamber
of Commerce.
The
opportunities abroad are vast: Outside our borders are markets that represent
73% of the world’s purchasing power, 87% of its economic growth, and 95% of its
consumers. Trade is recovering in the wake of the financial crisis, and the WTO
reports a feared epidemic of protectionism did not materialize, according to
the Chamber.
However,
as the rest of the world races to complete new trade and investment agreements,
America
is being locked out and left behind, the Chamber says. The European Union has
concluded FTAs with Colombia,
Panama, and Korea. Canada’s parliament is poised to give final
approval to an FTA with Colombia
as early as June, and one with Panama
is close behind. The Chamber estimates the United
States could suffer a net loss of more than 380,000 jobs
and $40 billion in lost export sales if it fails to implement its pending trade
agreements while the European Union and Canada move ahead with their own
accords.
A
new Chamber study shows that Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are a clear-cut path
toward job creation. To show the benefits of these agreements for U.S. workers,
the U.S. Chamber commissioned a study entitled Opening
Markets, Creating Jobs. It found that 17.7 million American jobs depend on
trade with 14 countries with which we have FTAs. Of this total, 5.4 million
jobs are supported by the increase in trade generated by the FTAs. No other
budget-neutral government initiative has generated anything near the number of
jobs.
Thanks
to our FTAs, U.S.
merchandise exports to these 14 countries grew nearly three times as fast as our
exports to the rest of the world over the past decade. If the United States is to double exports
within five years as President Obama has pledged, the proven export boosting
record of FTAs will be indispensable.
To
download the full report, go to: www.uschamber.com/assets/international/100514_stateofworldtrade_full.pdf
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