International Trade and Investment Priorities for the Second Obama Administration

Introduction

No priority facing our nation is more important than putting Americans back to work. Nearly 8% of the U.S. workforce is unemployed — a figure that soars to 15% when those who have stopped looking for jobs and the millions of part-time workers who want to work full time are included. As a nation, the biggest policy challenge we face is to create the 20 million jobs needed in this decade to replace the jobs lost in the recent recession and to meet the needs of America’s growing workforce.

World trade is playing a vital role in reaching this job-creation goal. After all, outside our borders are markets that represent 95% of the world’s consumers. Many Americans are already seizing these benefits: One in three manufacturing jobs depends on exports, one in three acres on American farms is planted for hungry consumers overseas, and U.S. service industries’ exports reached a record $600 billion last year.

However, the international playing field is often unfairly tilted against American workers and companies. While the U.S. market is largely open to imports, many other countries continue to levy steep tariffs on U.S. exports, and foreign governments have erected other barriers against U.S. goods and services. In recent years, new forms of protectionism have emerged, including discriminatory industrial policies and more aggressive use of subsidies; an enhanced role for state-owned enterprises and other “national champions;” restrictions on exports of critical raw materials; and “forced localization” measures including local content rules, performance requirements, and other measures that discriminate against U.S. and other foreign products, services, and companies.

The bottom line is simple: The United States needs a forward-leaning trade policy that recognizes both the immense opportunities presented by international commerce as well as the challenges U.S. companies face abroad. Otherwise, our workers and businesses will miss out on huge opportunities. Our standard of living and our standing in the world will suffer. With so many Americans out of work, leveling the playing field and opening markets abroad to the products of American workers, farmers, and companies is a higher priority than ever before.