Chairman Ron Kind’s Statement on Release of International Trade Commission’s Report on TPP
Washington, DC – Today, the International Trade Commission (ITC) released its report assessing the impact the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement would have on the United States economy. Below is Chairman Kind’s statement on the report:
“Today’s release of the International Trade Commission report is an important step in moving the trade agenda forward. I was pleased to see that the ITC found, what many of us have known for some time, Trans-Pacific Partnership is a much better alternative than continuing with the status quo. According to the ITC TPP would create American jobs and increase exports across a number of sectors, including cars and dairy products.
“However, there are many positive economic provisions of the trade agreement that the ITC report fails to account for including eliminating barriers on service exports in many sectors, benefits of intellectual property rights protections, and helping small businesses find customers, get easy access to required paperwork, and encourage wider participation in trade. Other recent reports have attempted to measure these benefits and have found them to be significant.
“In addition to the economic benefits, there are strategic and national security implications of not moving forward with the agreement. Now is not the time for the United States to become Fortress America. With an increased shift to the Pacific Rim, we need to be the ones working with our strategic allies and writing the rules of trade. If we are not the ones leading then China will be writing the rules, and that would be a race to the bottom.
“In the coming weeks, I look forward to thoroughly reviewing the ITC report. I hope my colleagues will do the same and judge the agreement on its merits and against the status quo.”
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