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:
