On the recordJuly 28, 2010
I think it's important to recognize, and I agree with the gentleman who just spoke, Mr. Pascrell, that the United States has the most vibrant, open market in the entire world, and we need to take advantage of our leadership position. The U.S. has led globally since 1945 in setting the standards for open trade. Trade agreements give access to American workers and businesses to other markets for U.S. services and products. Let's face it, 95 percent of the consumers of the world are outside of the borders of the United States. So our trade agreements create U.S. jobs. Despite having the trade deficit that we've talked about, the U.S. trade balance with 13 countries that we have free trade agreements implemented through Trade Promotion Authority has really improved our export capacity by 476 percent between 2001 and 2009, creating a trade surplus with those respective countries of over $25 billion. The failure to implement an aggressive trade strategy that focuses on exports puts the U.S. at extreme risk of falling behind competitively.
