Manufacturers Welcome Strong Vote on Trade Agreements to Create Jobs
10/12/11 - National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) President and CEO Jay Timmons issued this statement after the Senate voted to pass the free trade agreements (FTAs) with Colombia, South Korea and Panama:“Much more work remains to be done in order to meet the President’s goal to double exports by 2014, and manufacturers are committed to expanding access to markets overseas because 95 percent of consumers live outside the United States. These free trade agreements are key to our economic growth and competitiveness, and we hope the President will act quickly to implement them.
Today’s action by the Senate and House to pass these agreements is a big step toward creating much-needed jobs as we reach new markets. Manufacturers welcome today’s votes after years of inaction. Passage of these agreements puts us back on the road to faster export growth and boosts our ability to compete.
These agreements have been the NAM’s top trade priority. They will help create quality manufacturing jobs at a critical time in our economic recovery, especially as we’ve seen evidence of a slowdown in recent months. We thank President Obama for sending the agreements to Congress for a vote, and we thank Senators Reid (D-NV) and McConnell (R-KY) for bringing the agreements to the Senate floor for a vote so quickly after they were sent up by the President.
We look forward to the President signing the implementing legislation that was passed today and moving on to the next key step – doing what is necessary to ensure ‘entry into force’ for these agreements. We urge President Obama’s Administration to move quickly in taking the necessary actions so we can begin to boost our economy with the $13 billion increase in exports estimated by the International Trade Commission.”