U.S. Chamber's Schweitzer Keynotes 'Celebration of Excellence' Dinner

Discusses the Necessity of Open Markets Overseas for Erie Companies

ERIE, PA—In a speech at the Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership's annual Celebration of Excellence dinner, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Senior Trade Advisor Leslie Schweitzer rallied attendees to look to overseas markets to grow their businesses and add jobs.

"America's competitiveness and ability to provide jobs for all Americans requires a robust international trade agenda," said Schweitzer. "The only way to achieve our goal to double exports in the next five years, which is shared by the President, is to pass the pending free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea. With 96% of the world's consumers living outside our borders, our companies need to be able to sell their products in foreign markets on a level playing field."

Last fall the U.S. Chamber began calling for a national goal of doubling exports in the next five years. At the same time, the Chamber released a study that said more than 500,000 U.S. jobs could be lost if the United States fails to move forward on trade.

The Chamber has offered a five-point plan for expanding trade, including:

• passing the pending trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and Korea;
• negotiating more market-opening accords such as the Doha Round and the Trans-Pacific Partnership;
• combating economic isolation at home and abroad, as in the case of "buy local" requirements;
• modernizing U.S. export controls; and
• helping small and medium-sized companies tap export markets.

"We must turn our attention to truly reducing trade barriers that are keeping companies in Erie from shipping their goods overseas," Schweitzer said. "It is not enough to tackle tariffs, it is the non-tariff barriers that are addressed in trade agreements that make real differences for small companies. Quotas, licensing fees, customs, and control issues are true show-stoppers for companies like those here tonight. Trade creates jobs. It builds a set of common interests that binds countries together in the peaceful pursuit of harmony. This is not a political issue, this is about making America great—it is about creating jobs and keeping Pennsylvania companies competitive."

TradeRoots Pennsylvania, an ongoing effort to educate consumers, businesses, workers, farmers, families, elected officials, and citizens on the importance of international trade and why exports and foreign direct investment are fundamental to the success of the Pennsylvania economy. The U.S. Chamber's TradeRoots initiative is educating the public about the importance of international trade, mobilizing grass roots support at the state and local level, and building the best arguments through sound research.

"The Chamber will continue to aggressively press Congress and the administration to pursue a pro-growth trade agenda, the first step of which is to pass the pending FTAs with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea," said Schweitzer.

Find out more about how trade impacts Pennsylvania at: http://www.traderoots.org/?page_id=525.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers and industry associations.

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