Chamber Welcomes U.S. - Jordan Free Trade Agreement But Opposes Non-Trade Provisions

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States Chamber of Commerce today welcomed the U.S. – Jordan Free Trade Agreement, calling it a significant step forward in the march toward free and fair trade around the world.

Chamber President and CEO Thomas Donohue said, "the Chamber believes the agreement will lead to an expansion of commercial trade and investment between the two countries on an mutually beneficial, reciprocal basis. The agreement should also make a positive contribution on the difficult road to Middle East peace."

While the Chamber strongly supports bilateral efforts to improve the environment and ensure improvement in the quality and conditions of workers, the Chamber does not believe that it is appropriate to try and address social and labor issues within trade agreements. The Chamber has consistently maintained that the best means to achieve improvements in labor and environmental conditions is to pursue these improvements in separate, albeit parallel efforts. Linking trade and labor serves neither objective.

Donohue said, "the Chamber will support congressional approval of the provisions dealing with tariff reductions and will work with the Congress to remove the unnecessary non-trade provisions from the pact.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business federation representing more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector and region.

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