Category: Press Releases and Statements

USA*Engage Cautions on IRGC Designation

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Washington DC – USA*Engage Co-Chair and National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) President William Reinsch today released the following statement in response to the announcement of sanctions on Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps:

“There is no question that Iran’s effort to develop a nuclear capability poses a threat to peace and stability, but the approach announced today by the administration may move us farther away from our goal of getting Iran to actually change its behavior.

“These sanctions are extraterritorial, and as such are likely to worsen relations with our allies. Given their sweeping nature, they may ultimately end up targeting hundreds of foreign companies that are doing business legally under their national laws. Their reach is so broad that they pose real challenges when it comes to connecting the dots with other companies and entities both inside and outside Iran.

“The most unfortunate element is that the Bush administration is framing this as a diplomatic initiative. In fact, they are sanctions intended to punish Iran, though their primary effect may well be on companies in third countries. As a result they are unlikely to lead to a positive diplomatic outcome. Real diplomacy means utilizing direct diplomatic channels to the government in Iran, and it means working with our allies on concerted multilateral efforts.”
 

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.

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.

USA*Engage and NFTC Call on Congress to Reconsider Unilateral Sanctions Bill Targeting Burma

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Calls “Feel Good” Sanctions Ineffective and Distracting

 

Washington, DC – USA*Engage and the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) today released a statement expressing concern over the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s approval of H.R. 3890, the Block Burmese JADE (Junta’s Anti-Democratic Efforts) Act of 2007, which would impose new unilateral U.S. sanctions against Burma.

 

“The need to utilize sanctions to influence the behavior of rogue governments and bad actors is a necessary tool of diplomacy, but imposing unilateral U.S. sanctions is ineffectual at best and often counterproductive. While it is clear that the United States must take a strong stand, one country alone cannot effectively limit the economic activity.  This is particularly true in Burma, where we have little leverage to begin with. Engaging other nations in efforts to pressure the regime there is by far the best diplomatic strategy to effect change,” said Bill Reinsch, NFTC President and Co-Chair of USA*Engage.

 

“The sanctions under consideration will do nothing more than make us feel good about taking a stand, while distracting efforts for real and long lasting change. It is important for Congress and the Administration to work in coordination with allied nations to combat repressive regimes if we are to achieve success in any sanctions effort,” Reinsch continued.

 

“Institutionalizing sanctions and removing the periodic approval process by Congress will make it virtually impossible for the President to adapt sanctions to changing circumstances or reward good behavior. Extending sanctions indefinitely is simply bad public policy,” said Reinsch. “We hope that in the coming weeks, Members of Congress will thoroughly review this provision and identify ways to engage our allies to effect real change for the people of Burma.”

 

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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.

 

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.

 

 

 

NFTC Urges WTO Members to Agree on Modalities this Fall: Exceptions to the General Approaches Must be Strictly Limited

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Washington DC – The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) today called on WTO member governments to move urgently to narrow differences and bring the Doha Round of negotiations to a prompt and ambitious conclusion. A group of 10 member companies from the NFTC just completed 3 days of meetings in Geneva with senior officials including Director-General Lamy, negotiating group chairs, ambassadors and other senior negotiators. The group was led by the co-chairs of the NFTC’s WTO project group, Mary Irace, NFTC’s Vice President, and Scott Miller, Procter & Gamble’s Director for global trade policy.

 

“The NFTC urges WTO members to reach agreement this fall on modalities to reduce distortions and liberalize trade in agricultural and industrial products, as well as to provide direction for achieving substantial results in services, trade facilitation, and on improvements to trade rules,” said Irace.

 

Miller noted, “We have concluded from our meetings this week that WTO members have reached a critical moment of decision and opportunity.” We are impressed
with the intensity of the negotiating effort in all sectors, particularly in agriculture. “However, if real progress is not achieved in the coming weeks, the opportunity may slip away, with grave risks to the prospects for concluding the Round,” added Irace.

 

The central issue for decision continues to be ensuring a meaningful level of ambition. In the core areas of NAMA and agriculture, efforts are clearly centered on the Chairs’ texts. “The Chairs’ texts provide the basis to conclude a valuable deal for NFTC Members. However, we are worried by a growing tendency, among both developed an developing countries, to look for ways to avoid the full liberalizing effect of the general formulas on their own policies. These temptations must be resisted if the outcome is to be an agreement that will generate new trade flows,” concluded Irace.

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Advancing Global Commerce for Over 90 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.

 

USA*Engage and NFTC Express Concern Over Committee Approval of Sudan Divestment Bill

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Washington DC – USA*Engage and the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) today released a statement expressing concern over the Senate Banking Committee’s approval of the Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act.

“The NFTC fully supports efforts to bring peace and stability to Darfur, but encouraging states and local governments to levy sanctions against Sudan is not the answer,” said Bill Reinsch, President of NFTC and Co-Chair of USA*Engage. “The Senate Banking Committee has made significant improvements in the House-passed version of the bill, but we continue to believe that it is in the best interest of the United States and our allies for the federal government to set foreign policy, not states.”

“Before taking any further action, we urge Members to take a careful look at the legislation, think through the long term implications of subcontracting foreign policy to the states, and thoroughly examine the bill’s provisions to ensure that they are in line with U.S. foreign policy objectives, and that they provide sufficient latitude to allow the President to conduct an effective foreign policy,” concluded Reinsch.

In August 2006, the NFTC brought suit against the state of Illinois, challenging the constitutionality of the state’s Act to End Terrorism and Atrocities in the Sudan. On February 23, 2007, the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to deemed the law unconstitutional. The NFTC lawsuit followed the precedent set in the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2000 decision in Crosby v. NFTC, in which the Court struck down sanctions enacted by Massachusetts on Burma.  In that decision the Court ruled that if the federal government has enacted sanctions on a country, state and local governments are preempted from imposing sanctions of their own. 

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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. 

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.

 

 

NFTC Expresses Strong Disappointment with NAMA 11 Paper

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Calls for Real Leadership in the Doha Round by Advanced Developing Countries

Washington, D.C. – The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) today released the following statement, expressing strong disappointment with the NAMA 11 paper and calling on advanced developing countries to exhibit leadership in the Doha Round of World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations.

“The NFTC is very disappointed that several developing countries tabled yesterday a paper that focuses more on what advanced developing countries can’t do on industrial goods market opening in the Doha Round, instead of what they can do,” said NFTC President Bill Reinsch. “With major positive signs of progress in the Doha negotiations over the past several weeks, including a clear commitment by the United States to work with the suggested range of domestic support cuts in the

Chairman’s text on agricultural, this paper goes in the opposite direction.”

“Now is the time to work towards a meaningful consensus in the Doha negotiations based on the recent texts tabled by the Chairs of the Agriculture and NAMA negotiating groups, and also by achieving similar progress on services,” said Mary Irace, NFTC Vice President for Trade and Export Finance. “Absent political will on all sides to liberalize trade, the negotiations will not conclude successfully. Calling for yet more flexibility and exceptions for major trading countries at this stage is unhelpful.”

“The Chairman’s text on NAMA has plenty of flexibility built in for developing countries and more than amply provides for less-than-full reciprocity. It is worth noting in this regard that the least developed countries are exempt from any commitments,” stated Irace.

“At the end of the day, if we can’t achieve a consensus on the tariff cutting modalities provided in the text, it’s hard to see how these negotiations are going to conclude. Frankly, even under the most ambitious coefficient in the text for advanced developing countries, many applied tariff rates would be left untouched in those countries. The U.S. business community had, in fact, urged for much more ambition than what is in the Chairman’s text.”

Irace concluded, “Time is running short. It would be a serious failure in political leadership if WTO members were unable to seize the very real opportunity before us to conclude the Doha Round in a balanced and ambitious manner. The outlines of a solid agreement are there, much work has been accomplished, and now is the time to stand up and be counted by getting the job done. It is a goal worth fighting for because a successful conclusion will generate economic growth and development worldwide and strengthen the foundation of the global trading system.”

 

 

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Advancing Global Commerce for Over 90 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.

 

House Majority Leader Hoyer Outlines “New Deal” on Trade

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Secretary Gutierrez, USTR Schwab Press for Bipartisan Approval of
Pending Agreements

Washington, DC – The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) last night hosted its 93rd Annual World Trade Dinner and Award Ceremony at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., where U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) delivered the keynote address and discussed trade and the importance of international engagement and multilateral institutions on a range of issues.  Hoyer pledged Democratic support for approval of the pending U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (PTPA), citing it as an example of a bipartisan “New Deal” on trade, which will address workers’ rights, the environment and the safeguarding of American jobs in future trade agreements.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez and U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab also urged Members of Congress to approve pending trade agreements with Peru, Panama, Colombia and South Korea.

“When the Democrats regained majorities in the House and Senate in January, we were presented with an opportunity to advance trade agreements that enforced worker rights and environmental standards,” said Rep. Hoyer, who represents Maryland’s Fifth Congressional District and is currently serving his 14th term. “In our opinion, this agreement [May 10 bipartisan agreement on trade] strengthens core values and outlines the path forward for bipartisan trade agreements. We want to work these [agreements] in a bipartisan fashion. We think that is good for our country and we think it is good for the rest of the world.”

Hoyer noted that the House would soon vote on the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement, and predicted bipartisan support.

“Free and fair trade not only can foster an international economic system based on the rule of law, but also a movement toward democratic reform, market economics and respect for basic human rights – and as a result a more stable, secure political environment,” said Hoyer. “But certainly one of the greater economic challenges of our time is managing the benefits of trade while addressing the very real, adverse consequences that trade and globalization have had on many of our constituents and communities.”

Ambassador Schwab applauded Rep. Hoyer’s commitment to pursuing a bipartisan consensus on the U.S. trade agenda during her introduction of him. Schwab also reinforced the need for Congress to come together in a bipartisan manner to act as soon as possible on the four pending trade agreements. “This is the beginning of an important journey for all of us. Free trade agreements are never easy…And no matter who controls Congress or the White House, we will need a trade policy that sustains American competitiveness in the global marketplace…The trade policy negotiated during this Congress transcends party and president and politics.”

Commerce Secretary Gutierrez stated that “Congressional approval of the four pending free trade agreements, with Peru, with Colombia, Panama, South Korea will further open up markets of 126 million people with a combined GDP of $1.1 trillion.”

“More than 80 percent of the imports that come in today from Peru, Colombia and Panama enter the United States duty-free. Congress has already given their farmers, ranchers and workers preferential access to our market. The question we have is why can we not do the same for our farmers, our ranchers and our workers,” Gutierrez continued.

“We applaud the leadership of Congressman Hoyer, Ambassador Schwab and Secretary Gutierrez for reaching across the aisle to make positive steps forward on trade and global engagement,” said NFTC President Bill Reinsch. “A bipartisan way forward is the only way forward and the NFTC commends their commitment to this ideal.”

The NFTC dinner was attended by members of Congress, the Administration, and the business community. In addition, ambassadors and embassy officials from numerous countries also attended, including representatives from Brazil, Canada, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, the European Union, France, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, India, New Zealand, Oman, Panama, the Philippines, Russia, Switzerland, Vietnam and Yemen.

Advancing Global Commerce for Over 90 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.