NAM welcomes Obama goal of doubling exports
The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) welcomed the Obama administration's goal of doubling exports over the next five years.
President Obama outlined the goal in his State of the Union Speech in late January. In a speech today, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke unveiled details of the president's National Export Initiative.
NAM vice president of International Economic Affairs, Frank Vargo, said that because manufacturers account for two-thirds of U.S. exports of goods and services, it will be up to NAM member companies to achieve the bulk of the goal.
"We appreciate the $80 million budget increase for export promotion. The U.S. export promotion program has been a shadow of what other countries do to support their exporters -- this step will permit the first real expansion of export promotion support in decades," Vargo said in a prepared statement.
He added that achieving a goal of doubling America’s exports in five years will require more than export promotion. The goal, which is equivalent to a 15 percent increase in exports every year for the next five years, can only be reached by major policy changes, Vargo said.
"The most urgent action the Administration can take is to send Congress the three pending bilateral trade agreements with Colombia, Korea, and Panama – a move that would lead to thousands of new manufacturing jobs. The Administration must also turn to completing negotiations for a Trans Pacific trade agreement and other new agreements as well – including a Doha Round that will open foreign markets in a meaningful way," he said.
Vargo said another needed step requires quick implementation of the president’s call for modernizing the obsolete export controls system that harms both national security and jobs. A non-partisan, independent Milken Institute study commissioned by the NAM points out that modernizing the Cold War-oriented export control system could increase exports in high-value areas, enhancing real GDP by $64 billion by 2019, creating 160,000 manufacturing jobs and expanding total employment by 340,000.
U.S. export competitiveness also depends on a dollar that is fairly-valued. Manufacturers need policies that support market-determined currency exchange rates that will give U.S. companies the competitive edge they need in a global economy.
Additionally, to achieve the president’s goal requires efforts to improve domestic production costs. The United States has the second highest corporate tax rate among major industrial countries. The Milken report shows that reducing the U.S. corporate income tax to match the average of other industrial countries could boost GDP by $375.5 billion (2.2 percent) in the next decade, enabling U.S. companies to be more competitive in global export markets while creating 350,000 manufacturing jobs.
"America needs a broad array of trade initiatives and pro-growth tax policies to significantly boost manufactured exports and jobs. America’s manufacturers look forward to working with the Administration and Congress to obtain the programs and policies that will enable manufacturers, farmers, and services producers to double exports in five years," Vargo said.
INDUSTRIAL SUPPLY MAGAZINE
The May/June issue of Industrial Supply magazine features an in-depth cover story about GHX Industrial. Plus, we're featuring articles by contributing writers Dr. Bharani Nagarathnam and Frank Hurtte, as well as interviews with numerous product and distribution industry experts.
