TPP good for America

As the chair and vice chair of the President’s Export Council, we have had the privilege of helping the Obama’s administration develop and implement policies that enabled the United States to grow exports 22 percent over the past five years. As we conclude our tenure, we believe strongly that there is still one piece of pivotal and urgent unfinished business in the ongoing fight to propel growth and help American businesses – large, medium and small – export their goods and services abroad.

The Obama administration has negotiated a groundbreaking trade agreement with 11 other nations known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. In normal times, you would expect such an agreement to be met by bipartisan support and win passage by Congress. As we all know, these are not normal times.

The TPP is being held hostage to the most divisive presidential campaign in memory. Shame on us if we let that continue.

Although the TPP has become a flashpoint for economic insecurity and anti-globalization angst, we believe it merits neither. The fiercely independent and highly credible U.S. International Trade Commission estimates that after 15 years, the TPP would result in increases in annual real income, exports and gross domestic product in the United States.

The broader impact of the TPP is not so obvious but arguably more important. Here’s why:

▪  Exports matter. For the past 50 years, the export of goods and services has trended higher and now accounts for about 13 percent of our gross domestic product and supports 1 in 12 U.S. jobs. Equally important, workers in export-intensive manufacturing industries earn 18 percent more, on average, than those in other manufacturing sectors. The TPP would eliminate some 18,000 tariffs, making our exports less costly and more competitive.

▪  Change is the law of life. The U.S. economy has to adjust to meet the challenges and reap the rewards of global competition. That need for continuous change is not likely to abate anytime soon. But this plays to America’s predilection for innovation and entrepreneurship.

▪  Embracing the TPP is the right thing to do. It gives the United States a stunning opportunity to export not only our goods and services but our values as well.

▪  Trade supports peace. Fostering mutually beneficial commercial interests reinforces peaceful relations among nations.

▪  Nature abhors a vacuum. Any further delay in implementing the TPP invites other nations to step forward in shaping the future of trade and commerce in the Asia-Pacific.

We would be the first to admit that no agreement is perfect, certainly not one that marries the interests of 12 independent nations. But waiting for perfection is not an option.

It is imperative that the Obama administration and Congress use the coming months to work out their differences and do what is patently in the interests of our nation and our world by passing the TPP into law this year.

This story was originally published October 3, 2016 at 5:03 AM with the headline "TPP good for America."