“Champion of Free Trade” Award
Remarks by Lee R. Raymond
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
NFTC Award –
I am truly delighted to be recognized as the recipient of the “Champion of Free Trade” award. In past years this award has been given to several prominent figures in the movement for a more open and liberal trading world. I am honored to be asked to stand among them.
The National Foreign Trade Council itself has much to be proud of. For nearly 90 years the NFTC has been a strong proponent of more open trade, and the fundamental wisdom of that advocacy is reflected in the enormous expansion of the world’s prosperity.
Yet this is also a challenging time for those of us who support increasingly liberal global trade and investment policies.
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And of course, much has been said publicly about the need for
So we continue to face a challenging environment in which to pursue trade and investment liberalization, with opposition coming from some commercial sectors, a number of NGOs and from countries slow or even unwilling to progress the changes needed to achieve the wider economic benefits from a more open and liberal system.
But the challenges should motivate rather than discourage us.
There will clearly be a lot of discussion about what advocates of continued liberalization should do next. I would suggest a number of steps are needed.
The first step, it seems to me, is to ensure we prevent further erosion in the trade and investment system that has been painstakingly created over many decades.
As one example, we should be vigilant when countries are suggested as possible targets of sanctions. The NFTC has long understood this and has spoken out against the imposition of unilateral economic sanctions as a foreign policy weapon.
The next task is to continue progress on the series of bilateral or regional free trade agreements that are in the pipeline, or are being considered.
Following on the recently approved agreements with
Regional agreements underway include one for the
There has clearly been some controversy over the wisdom of bilateral and regional trade agreements, but that debate must now be viewed in the context of the outcome of
And in pursuing bilateral or regional agreements, we should maintain a firm position with regard to the importance of investment protection, particularly through provisions such as the ability of companies to seek international arbitration of any disputes that may arise.
By saying this I am not advocating that we give up on a truly multilateral initiative. There are still very good arguments for the broadest possible agreements on liberalizing trade, and there are very good reasons to include in such agreements issues related to government procurement, investment rules, and the like. It’s just that such omnibus agreements are very difficult to conclude successfully because the issues are so diverse and the countries participating are so numerous. Bringing a truly multilateral agreement into being may require some institutional changes in the way such agreements are achieved, and that in itself will take a while, perhaps a long while.
Still and all, we must not lose sight of the fundamentals. Trade and investment rules are being liberalized, however slow the process may appear, and attempts to backslide are in most cases being successfully resisted. This is the basic reality.
And one of the reasons for this continued progress is the exceptional work that has been and is continuing to be done by the National Foreign Trade Council and the groups allied to it in the common cause of freer trade.
That is why I am proud to have been associated with the NFTC for so long, and both proud and honored that you have chosen to recognize me for my involvement in the important mission of this group.
Thank you.
