Washington DC – The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) today applauded the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives for passing a spending bill, which included additional funding for the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program in the coming year. TAA was set to expire on December 31, 2014.
“We applaud congressional action to continue funding TAA, a program critical to U.S. competitiveness and economic growth,” said NFTC President Bill Reinsch. “We are pleased that members of Congress took legislative action to ensure that U.S. workers impacted by trade will continue to receive the benefits and training they need to get back on their feet and back to work. However, short-term funding is not enough; long-term reauthorization of this program is essential in a world driven by global supply chains and with rising domestic inequality.”
“Inclusion of provisions to fund TAA in the spending bill signals that it is a critical part of a comprehensive and competitive national trade policy of opening overseas markets, updating the rules of the global trading system and vigorously enforcing the actions of our trading partners to assure they adhere to those rules,” said NFTC Vice President for Regional Trade Initiatives Chuck Dittrich. “TAA is important to those U.S. firms and workers who are affected by the shifts in the U.S. economy by the elimination of tariffs and other trade barriers around the world. It provides assistance so that American workers can most quickly participate in the growth and innovation of the larger U.S. economy, made possible by free trade and investment.”
“Congress and the Administration should now turn to a bipartisan effort to provide the president modernized Trade Promotion Authority to facilitate the conclusion of future and current U.S. trade agreements under negotiation, including a high-standard, comprehensive Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement,” concluded Reinsch.
