Need to discuss how trade impacts local businesses

Presidential elections do more than just select the next leader of our country. The long campaign season also highlights key issues that command our attention.

One of those issues was trade, notably the Trans-Pacific Partnership and NAFTA. These multi-nation free-trade agreements establish the legal framework for fair trade.

The 22-year-old NAFTA has been the hallmark of modern trade agreements, with positive net benefit. The historic TPP agreement is complete, but congressional approval is unlikely after a barrage of campaign criticism.

Challenges to the TPP were focused on concerns about domestic job losses through trade. Those concerns were overstated, and do not highlight the U.S. companies that sold more U.S. goods globally and brought more profit back to the United States through our 14 existing trade agreements.

The election is over, and campaign rhetoric must give way to real dialog. The issue isn’t just the future of TPP, but the future of our country’s participation in the global economy.

Currently, U.S. small businesses are at a disadvantage on a global level. The TPP would eliminate that disadvantage by providing unique protections for small business, labor and the environment. And it would provide a defense against global competitors.

With or without TPP, the challenge remains the same: The United States must maintain its dominant position as a world trade leader. Otherwise, our companies will be at a competitive disadvantage in the international marketplace.

How will we compete?

To start, we must be smarter about the impact of international trade. We must acknowledge the global marketplace is here to stay. We must win in the international marketplace if we want to maintain our quality of life and superior economic position in the world economy.

When we blame “trade” for job losses and talk about raising trade barriers, we are setting ourselves up to lose out to competitors such as China or Brazil. Instead, we should embrace the benefits of international trade. We should play to compete. We should play to win.

As the national debate builds over the future of our country’s trade policy, our community needs to understand trade’s impact on our businesses and economic future. If fair and legal trade through free-trade agreements is not the answer, then we need a full discussion of the alternatives so we don’t lose ground to our foreign competitors.

To that end, Kansas Global Trade Services invites our community to discuss how trade and policy impact our local businesses. An informed decision based on logic and economic principles is necessary to protect our businesses and make them competitive in a global economy.

We look forward to that discussion and invite all voices to participate. We can’t stand by and let others decide our economic fate.

This story was originally published January 3, 2017 at 5:02 AM with the headline "Need to discuss how trade impacts local businesses."