By Susanne Stirling, Vice President, International, California Chamber of Commerce
With more than 30% of US gross domestic product (GDP) tied to international trade and investment and 95% of the world’s population abroad, representing 80% of the world’s purchasing power, US engagement in the international marketplace is more important than ever to the nation’s economy.
Passage of trade promotion authority will help Congress and the President to work together to forge new and beneficial trade agreements for the United States. Congress needs to renew trade promotion authority to enable the United States to continue pursuing new trade deals aggressively.
Without trade promotion authority, the United States will be compelled to sit on the sidelines while other countries negotiate numerous preferential trade agreements that put US companies at a competitive disadvantage.
By approving trade promotion authority, Congress can help strategically address the range of possible US trade negotiations: a US-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement (FTA); a US-European Union FTA; a US-Kenya FTA; and even a possible re-admission to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) — now Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) — as well as other future trade negotiations.