Category: Press Releases and Statements

NFTC Welcomes Administration’s Announcement on Panama FTA

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Washington DC – The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) today welcomed U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk’s announcement that the Panamanian government has fulfilled all steps necessary for the Administration to submit the U.S.-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement to Congress for approval.

“We commend the Administration for working together with the Panamanian government to outline a pathway for approval of the agreement. In the same vein, we applaud Panama for fulfilling its commitments and taking quick action to ensure no further delay in consideration of the trade pact,” said NFTC President Bill Reinsch. “The Panamanian parliament’s approval last week of the bilateral Tax Information Exchange Agreement, coupled with recent reforms in the nation’s labor laws, helped to pave the way for today’s announcement.”

“The trade agreement will help expand and cement our already strong economic ties with Panama, and stands to boost U.S. exports to the benefit of American workers and industry – from large worldwide American companies to small- and medium-sized businesses and our nation’s farmers and ranchers.”

“Panama is an important export market for the United States, and our proximity to the Canal makes Panama not only a destination for U.S. goods and services, but a vital link to other markets in the hemisphere,” said NFTC Vice President for Regional Trade Issues Chuck Dittrich. “With the FTA in place, our equipment manufacturers and logistics companies, among others, will also have a competitive advantage in selling their products and services to Panama as the nation enters the next phases of the Canal expansion project slated for completion in 2014.”

“Great progress has been made on the Panama and Colombia FTAs in the past few weeks, and we applaud the Administration for ramping up outreach to the respective governments to resolve outstanding issues on both trade pacts. We urge the Administration to submit to Congress implementing legislation for all three pending trade agreements as soon as possible to ensure their approval before the July 4 recess.”

 

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About NFTC
Advancing Global Commerce for Nearly A Century – The National Foreign Trade Council (www.nftc.org) is a leading business organization advocating an open, rules-based global trading system. Founded in 1914 by a broad-based group of American companies, the NFTC now serves hundreds of member companies through its offices in Washington and New York.
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NFTC Welcomes Administration’s Announcement on U.S.-Colombia FTA

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Washington DC – The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) today welcomed the Obama Administration’s announcement on the resolution of labor-related issues standing in the way of approval of the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The “Action Plan Related to Labor Rights,” which was agreed upon by both governments, will pave the way for Congressional consideration of the FTA in the coming months.

“We applaud U.S. and Colombian negotiators for working together to resolve these outstanding issues over the past many weeks. This agreement was inked more than four years ago, and we welcome today’s announcement of a clear path and timeline toward approval,” said NFTC President Bill Reinsch. “Colombia has long been a vitally important strategic ally in the region and a key export market for U.S. companies and agricultural producers. Implementation of the Colombia FTA will further strengthen our longstanding bilateral economic ties and help to promote export growth and job creation.”

“Colombia is a crucial market for U.S. goods and services, and today’s announcement brings us one step closer to ensuring that the United States will remain competitive there,” said NFTC Vice President for Regional Trade Initiatives Chuck Dittrich. “With other countries, namely Canada, working to implement agreements with Colombia over the next few months, we are encouraged that the Administration has taken the necessary steps to move the FTA forward as soon as possible this year. Achieving today’s milestone is a significant accomplishment for both nations and symbolizes the importance of our economic and diplomatic relationship.”

“As the Administration works with the Colombian Government to achieve the goals laid out in the Action Plan, and to submit the implementing legislation in the coming months, we look forward to working with Congress to ratify the FTA as soon as possible,” Reinsch concluded.

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About NFTC
Advancing Global Commerce for Nearly A Century – The National Foreign Trade Council (www.nftc.org) is a leading business organization advocating an open, rules-based global trading system. Founded in 1914 by a broad-based group of American companies, the NFTC now serves hundreds of member companies through its offices in Washington and New York.
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NFTC Deplores Impasse in the Doha Round Negotiations

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Washington DC – In light of recent developments in the Doha Round of World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations, the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) today released the following statement:

“While the World Trade Organization (WTO) performed a major service for the global economy by preventing backsliding during the deepest economic recession in modern times, attempts to further expand trade have been stalled for nearly a decade. Last week, several key delegations, particularly from emerging economic powers, dug in even deeper in positions that will prevent the conclusion of a deal.

“The Doha Round was initiated shortly after 9/11, amid hope that new trade flows could further stimulate worldwide economic growth. Economic summits of heads of state have since that time repeatedly called for making this giant multilateral trade negotiation a success. At the beginning of this year there was a new sense of optimism among negotiators in Geneva. That sense of sense of optimism is now quickly fading away.

“Unless there is personal engagement from heads of state in capitals around the world, it is unlikely that the Round will progress toward the successful and ambitious conclusion the U.S. business community advocates and which would kick-start the global economy.

“After nearly a decade of talks, it is past time for world leaders to get personally involved and work together to deliver the political will to reach a strong positive result on the tough issues that are stalling the negotiations. If political leaders cannot make progress towards an agreement, alternative approaches to trade liberalization outside of the WTO are likely to accelerate, which have the potential to weaken the multilateral trading system. A continued impasse would also call into question the viability of the Doha Round as it currently stands.”

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About NFTC
Advancing Global Commerce for Nearly A Century– The National Foreign Trade Council (www.nftc.org) is a leading business organization advocating an open, rules-based global trading system. Founded in 1914 by a broad-based group of American companies, the NFTC now serves hundreds of member companies through its offices in Washington and New York.
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USA*Engage Welcomes U.N. Security Council Resolution Aimed at Protecting Libyan Citizens

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Washington DC – USA*Engage today welcomed a resolution adopted late yesterday by the United Nations Security Council, authorizing member states to take “all necessary measures” to protect the people of Libya from the Qadhafi regime. The association released the following statement.

“For a month now, the Qadhafi regime has used extreme force, violence and fear to repress Libyan civilians who have risen in opposition to what has been the status quo for more than four decades. We applaud the UN Security Council for approving a resolution that will allow member states to use all tools at their disposal to protect the Libyan people.

“The resolution is a bold statement from world leaders demonstrating that the community of nations are united in their horror and disgust with the regime’s repressive tactics. It should also send a powerful message to Colonel Qadhafi that the international community will do everything in its power, including the use of force, if necessary, to protect Libyan civilians.

“We believe that this multilateral response to the situation in Libya will have the most meaningful impact on the Qadhafi regime and help the people of Libya.”

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About USA*Engage

USA*Engage (www.usaengage.org) is a coalition of small and large businesses, agriculture groups and trade associations working to seek alternatives to the proliferation of unilateral U.S. foreign policy sanctions and to promote the benefits of U.S. engagement abroad. Established in 1997 and organized under the National Foreign Trade Council (www.nftc.org), USA*Engage leads a campaign to inform policy-makers, opinion-leaders, and the public about the counterproductive nature of unilateral sanctions, the importance of exports and overseas investment for American competitiveness and jobs, and the role of American companies in promoting human rights and democracy world wide.

NFTC Says the Time is Now for Action on All Components of the U.S. Trade Agenda

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Washington DC – In response to U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk’s remarks on the U.S. trade agenda before the Senate Finance Committee this morning, the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) released the following statement.

“We are encouraged by Ambassador Kirk’s remarks regarding ongoing discussions between the U.S., Colombian and Panamanian governments to resolve issues standing in the way of approval of both pending trade deals. At the same time, however, we urge the Administration to move as quickly as possible to prevent the further erosion of U.S. market share,” said NFTC President Bill Reinsch. “We are pleased that Ambassador Kirk on Monday announced his intention to submit the Korea agreement to Congress for consideration and approval shortly. We also echo the call made by several members of the committee today for the Administration to move past the verbal commitment to advance the Colombia and Panama agreements, and set an aggressive timeline to get them done as soon as possible this year. It’s past time to move forward. Action is needed now.”

“We are hopeful that there is truly a very intensive effort under way to engage with the Colombian and Panamanian governments to ready these trade agreements as soon as possible this year,” said NFTC Vice President for Regional Trade Initiatives Chuck Dittrich. “Both markets are critical to our goal to double exports and support job creation, and we do our exporters and their employees no favors by allowing these agreements to languish any further.”

“We applaud Ambassador Kirk for calling for the restoration of three key trade preference programs – the Generalized System of Preferences, the Andean Trade Preference Act and the Trade Adjustment Assistance program. All three are essential elements of our trade policy, and we urge Congress to approve legislation extending each of them, on their own merits, as soon as possible,” said Dittrich.

“With respect to the Doha Round, there is substantive dialogue taking place in Geneva among negotiators, and we sense a heightened level of engagement by all partners. We believe that this is the year for action toward a successful and ambitious outcome to the Round, but it will be critical for the United States to play a key leadership role to advance the talks further,” said NFTC Vice President for Global Trade Issues Jake Colvin.


About NFTC
Advancing Global Commerce for Nearly A Century– The National Foreign Trade Council (www.nftc.org) is a leading business organization advocating an open, rules-based global trading system. Founded in 1914 by a broad-based group of American companies, the NFTC now serves hundreds of member companies through its offices in Washington and New York.
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NFTC Welcomes Resolution of U.S.-Mexico Cross-Border Trucking Dispute

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Washington, DC – The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) today welcomed President Barack Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s announcement of a path forward to resolve the longstanding bilateral dispute on the cross-border trucking issue.

“We applaud today’s announcement and both governments for working together to reach a mutually agreed upon solution,” said NFTC President Bill Reinsch. “Not only was the stalemate on cross-border trucking a thorn in the side of our relationship with Mexico, the retaliatory tariffs put in place by the Mexican government because of our failure to abide by our NAFTA obligations have resulted in billions of dollars in lost trade for American exporters.”

“Mexico is one of the United States’ top five trading partners, and our commercial relationship is critical to increasing U.S. economic growth and exports, and supporting jobs through trade,” said NFTC Vice President for Regional Trade Initiatives Chuck Dittrich. “Given the importance of the Mexican market to our companies and agricultural exporters, we are very pleased that the two governments were able to reach an agreed path forward that will both allow the United States to fulfill our trading obligations and that will phase out the Mexican tariffs that have put a stranglehold on bilateral trade.”


About NFTC
Advancing Global Commerce for Nearly A Century- The National Foreign Trade Council (www.nftc.org) is a leading business organization advocating an open, rules-based global trading system. Founded in 1914 by a broad-based group of American companies, the NFTC now serves hundreds of member companies through its offices in Washington and New York.
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NFTC Welcomes New Chairman Ambassador Alan Wolff

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Washington, DC – The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) today announced the appointment of its new Chairman – Ambassador Alan Wolff, Co-Chair of Dewey & LeBoeuf’s International Trade Practice Group. Wolff assumes the position effective today, March 1, 2011.

“For many years, we have been honored to work with Alan in his capacity as a member of the NFTC Board. On countless occasions Alan’s trade expertise and counsel have helped to guide our work in several areas, from the promotion of bilateral and multilateral trade initiatives to shedding light on tariff and non-tariff trade barriers around the world to understanding how the trading system is changing,” said NFTC President Bill Reinsch. “Alan’s contributions to the NFTC and our member companies have been invaluable, and he will continue to provide thoughtful leadership in his new role as Chairman.”

Prior to heading up Dewey & LeBoeuf’s international trade practice, from 1991 through September 2007, Wolff served as managing partner of Dewey Ballentine’s Washington, DC office, prior to the firm’s merger with LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae. Wolff’s extensive experience in international trade relations includes serving as U.S. Deputy Special Representative for Trade Negotiations in the Carter Administration between 1977-1979. In that position he held the rank of ambassador and played a key role in several U.S. international trade negotiations. He also served as General Counsel of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative during the Nixon and Ford Administrations, and prior to that provided counsel on international monetary, trade and development policy issues at the Treasury Department.

“There could not be a better time than the present for expanding trade with major benefits for America. Not only are the free trade agreements with Korea, Colombia and Panama pending approval by the Congress, but near-term progress is surely to be made this year on a Trans-Pacific Partnership, embracing many of America’s long time and closest trading partners as well as Vietnam and potentially Japan,” said Wolff. “WTO accession of Russia is also a real possibility. It has been well over a decade since the United States successfully led major trade initiatives and 2011 marks a new beginning. The Council will be taking a strong role in all of these great enterprises.”


About NFTC
Advancing Global Commerce for Nearly A Century- The National Foreign Trade Council (www.nftc.org) is a leading business organization advocating an open, rules-based global trading system. Founded in 1914 by a broad-based group of American companies, the NFTC now serves hundreds of member companies through its offices in Washington and New York.
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NFTC Says President’s Budget Proposals Amount to a Tax Hike for Worldwide U.S. Companies

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Washington DC – The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) today said that President Obama’s international tax-related budget proposals are more of the same, and amount to a tax hike for worldwide American companies. NFTC Vice President for Tax Policy Cathy Schultz released the following statement.

“We were encouraged when the President in his State of the Union address highlighted that worldwide American companies face some of the highest tax burdens in the world. We thought that maybe his exclusion of ‘companies shipping jobs overseas’ symbolized an ideological shift toward more business-friendly international tax policies, but his budget proposal released today is just more of the same.

“The FY 2012 budget proposal includes many of the same flawed policies included in last year’s budget that were never enacted into law, and for good reason. From deferring the deduction of interest expenses related to deferred income to treating carried interests as ordinary income, the Administration’s budget proposal, while rhetorically intended to encourage companies to invest more in America, will make it even harder for them to do so.

“As we’ve stated before, while some economic indicators suggest that the U.S. economy is beginning to turn the corner, the reality is that our recovery is fragile. Given that reality, we should be pursuing policies that encourage growth and job creation, not enact what amount to tax hikes on the very same worldwide U.S. companies that are responsible for providing more than 63 million American jobs.”
 

 


About NFTC
Advancing Global Commerce for Nearly A Century- The National Foreign Trade Council (www.nftc.org) is a leading business organization advocating an open, rules-based global trading system. Founded in 1914 by a broad-based group of American companies, the NFTC now serves hundreds of member companies through its offices in Washington and New York.
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NFTC Expresses Disappointment Over Congress Allowing Critical Trade Preference and Assistance Programs to Expire

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Washington, DC – The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) today expressed disappointment with Members of Congress for failing to extend funding for the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA) and Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) before both programs are set to expire today. The NFTC urged Members to put politics aside and approve legislation to extend both programs immediately, and take action to restore funding for the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), which has lapsed since December 31, 2010. The NFTC released the following statement.

“We are deeply disappointed that Congress has failed to take action to extend funding for these programs. Since ATPA and TAA were extended for six weeks in late December, Members have had opportunities to come together, put narrow political interests aside, and do what is best for the hundreds of thousands of American workers and exporters in Andean countries who benefit from these programs,” said NFTC President Bill Reinsch. “It is unfortunate that instead of rising above partisan disagreements, Congress has let both of these programs expire. Thoughtful leadership should have prevailed by now, and we urge Members to work together as soon as possible in the next day or two to reach consensus and approve legislation extending funding.”

“We are in absolute agreement that all three pending free trade agreements are crucial to increasing U.S. economic growth and exports, and supporting American jobs, and we believe that all should be presented to Congress for approval as soon as possible this year. However, we do not agree that ATPA, TAA and GSP and the benefits that flow from these programs should hang in the balance merely to prove a political point,” said Reinsch.

“We applaud Members of Congress who stand up in principle to promote economic growth through trade, but it is counterintuitive to let these trade assistance and preference programs expire when they are part of the solution, not the problem,” said NFTC Vice President for Global Trade Issues Chuck Dittrich. “More than 360,000 American workers who have been adversely impacted by trade have been certified to receive training, health and other TAA benefits since May 2009, and some 5,000 U.S. agricultural producers are receiving assistance as well.”

“Similarly, ATPA helps afford market access to our trading partners in Andean nations, including Colombia, which has recently been ravaged by relentless floods that have literally left crops and the economic vitality of key industries under water,” said Dittrich. “Failing to extend preferences not only impacts industries and workers in Colombia and other Andean nations, but also the hundreds of thousands of American workers whose jobs depend on trade.”

“The expiration of the GSP program, which has lapsed for nearly a month and a half, is already having a negative economic impact by increasing the cost of inputs for American manufacturers. At a time when we are trying to find ways to boost the U.S. economy, failing to act in our economic interest has very real costs – costs that we cannot afford,” said Dittrich.

“The NFTC and its members stand in support of those Members of Congress who continue to work for a bipartisan solution to immediately extend these important programs and call on all Members to join them,” Reinsch concluded.

On Tuesday, February 8, NFTC sent a letter to all Members of Congress, underscoring the importance of extending funding for ATPA and TAA. To read the letter, please click here.

About NFTC
Advancing Global Commerce for Nearly A Century- The National Foreign Trade Council (www.nftc.org) is a leading business organization advocating an open, rules-based global trading system. Founded in 1914 by a broad-based group of American companies, the NFTC now serves hundreds of member companies through its offices in Washington and New York.
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NFTC President Calls Ways and Means Hearing an Important Step Toward Advancing the U.S. Trade Agenda

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Washington, DC – The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) today applauded the House Ways and Means Committee for holding a hearing on President Obama’s Trade Policy Agenda, which featured testimony from U.S. Trade Ambassador Ron Kirk. While the hearing addressed a full range of issues, including Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Doha Round negotiations, emphasis was specifically placed on the pending free trade agreements (FTAs) with Colombia, Panama and South Korea.

“We applaud Chairman Camp for his leadership, and view today’s hearing as a positive step forward in advancing the U.S. trade agenda. We are encouraged by Ambassador Kirk’s comments regarding the Administration’s intention to submit to the Korea agreement to Congress in the coming weeks and win approval this spring,” said NFTC President Bill Reinsch. “Maintaining an aggressive timeline to secure ratification of the KORUS FTA is critical to ensuring that we realize the economic benefits of the agreement as soon as possible and gain competitive advantage in this fast-growing market.”

“We are pleased to hear that President Obama has instructed Ambassador Kirk to intensify outreach to the Colombian and Panamanian governments to move those agreements forward,” said NFTC President Bill Reinsch. “Both agreements have significant support in Congress and the business community, and have been on the backburner for far too long. We hope that Ambassador Kirk’s remarks signal that the Administration is now prepared to make meaningful progress without further delay, and do what it takes to ready these agreements for Congressional approval as soon as possible this year.”

“The three pending agreements, coupled with increased economic engagement in the Asia-Pacific region through the TPP negotiations, are essential to helping our economy grow, creating jobs and further strengthening diplomatic relations with new and emerging economic powers around the world,” said NFTC Vice President for Regional Trade Issues Chuck Dittrich. “We urge Congress and the Administration to continue engaging in open dialogue and work together constructively to take the necessary steps to secure approval of all three trade agreements this year.”

About NFTC
Advancing Global Commerce for 95 Years – The National Foreign Trade Council (www.nftc.org) is a leading business organization advocating an open, rules-based global trading system. Founded in 1914 by a broad-based group of American companies, the NFTC now serves hundreds of member companies through its offices in Washington and New York. Follow us on: