National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) president and CEO John Engler issued the following statement on the National Export Initiative report delivered to President Obama on September 17:
“We could not agree more with the Administration that exporting is good for American businesses, particularly for manufacturers who represent over 60 percent of total U.S. exports of goods and services. We fully support the President’s goal to double U.S. exports in five years, but we believe this ambitious goal requires fundamental changes.
“The Cabinet’s blueprint plan to the President does offer some encouragement, but overall it falls short of calling for important fundamental changes in U.S. policies and programs we believe are necessary to enable us to double our exports by 2014. Most troubling is that the plan does not provide expanded market access beyond the trade agreements that await approval by Congress and the already-underway Trans Pacific Partnership. As we sit on the sidelines, the European Union and other competitors are negotiating free access to countries such as Argentina, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other rapidly growing markets. This leaves U.S. companies on an uneven playing field subject to stiff tariffs and trade barriers in these countries.
“We also believe there must be a major increase in resources to promote and expand exports. The Cabinet plan proposes only small increases, and the Administration’s budget for export promotion calls for only one-fifth of an increase. It will take at a minimum doubling the budget for export promotion to put U.S. companies on a competitive track with our global competitors. Canada alone provides four times more export finance assistance to its companies compared to the U.S.
“The NAM released our own blueprint on what it will take to meet the President’s goal of doubling exports in five years. We are encouraged that several of these policy proposals are parallel to the Cabinet’s plan, such as reforming export controls, business visas, intellectual property protection, macro-economic rebalancing and infrastructure improvements.
“We commend the Administration for this initial step. We also appreciate their progress on reforming export controls. We look forward to continuing to work with the Administration on meeting this important goal – which is achievable if we enact trade initiatives that reduce barriers and open markets to U.S. exports. The NAM’s detailed plan to double exports and the NAM’s Manufacturing Strategy are available at www.nam.org/.”
The National Association of Manufacturers is the nation’s largest industrial trade association, representing manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all 50 states. Manufacturing has a presence in every single congressional district providing good, high-paying jobs.
