News & Insights

Washington DC – Today, the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) and USA*Engage released the following statement on the P5+1 nuclear agreement with Iran.

“There is no doubt the agreement reached between the P5+1 and the Islamic Republic of Iran will be hotly debated by the U.S. Congress, presidential contenders and an array of policy experts. Many dimensions will inform viewpoints: nuclear proliferation, regional strife and its shifting proxy considerations principal among them.

“The NFTC and USA*Engage have supported the negotiations because we support engagement as the best solution to complex international problems and the one which will most likely take business interests into account. The commercial dimensions of Iran’s re-entry into the global economy, if sanctions are lifted pursuant to the agreement, are not trivial.

“In this regard, the NFTC and USA*Engage continue to advocate for parity in the treatment of U.S. companies and their European and Asian competitors. As the agreement is implemented, the commercial interests of U.S. companies will clearly be part of the U.S. national interest.”

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 policymakers, 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 worldwide.