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CEA CALLS ON CONGRESS TO ACT ON TRADE AGREEMENTS, CALLING THEM VITAL TO CONTINUED U.S. ECONOMIC GROWTH
Focus Congress on Importance of Trade to U.S. Job Creation in Electronics Industry
| Arlington, Virginia | 10/4/2007 |
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)® today launched a multi-faceted campaign urging Congress to reject protectionism and pass trade agreements that it said will expand the economy and create new American jobs.
“Many of the two million Americans employed by the consumer electronics industry have jobs because their company expanded through overseas sales,” said CEA President and CEO Gary Shapiro. “We cannot let protectionist fears hold us back from doing what a great nation does – competing and winning in a global economy.”
Shapiro made the remarks as CEA launched a new trade initiative to focus Congress on the importance of trade to U.S. job creation in the electronics industry.
“We are entering a critical juncture as Congress considers pending trade agreements and the 2008 presidential election focuses on the United States’ place in the world,” said Shapiro. “We can retreat, erect trade barriers and lose our competitive edge, or use trade as an opportunity to grow our economy and provide new and better-paying jobs to our workers.”
Trade is a vital component of the expansion of the U.S. consumer electronics industry. Of the two million American jobs in the industry, hundreds of thousands are connected to international trade. In addition, nearly half of CEA’s 2,100 member companies assert that exporting to a new market within the next 12 months is part of their business plan. Of CEA’s members, 80 percent are small and mid-sized companies with revenues of $30 million or less. For companies of this size in particular, trade is crucial for business growth and domestic job creation.
“Instead of fearing overseas competition, we must engage it and let dynamic U.S. companies succeed in the global marketplace," said John Shalam, chairman of Audiovox, based in Hauppauge, NY. “It’s time for Congress to rise above politics and look at the big picture.”
“The American economy and hundreds of thousands of jobs are dependent upon our ability to sell and buy overseas. Congress must stop playing politics with trade agreements and do what’s right for the future of our economy and the American worker,” said Mark Luden, CEO of The Guitammer Co., based in Westerville, Ohio.
International trade and a global market for consumer electronics ensures U.S. companies greater competitive advantages and guarantees that U.S. consumers have access to the best available products. Consumer devices have become a critical component of how Americans live, work and play. The average American household has more than 25 consumer electronic devices.
CEA called on Congress to pursue a pro-growth trade policy that includes:
- Aggressively pursuing bilateral trade agreements. In the absence of an agreement in the Doha Round of the World Trade Organization (WTO), bilateral trade agreements offer the next best way to open foreign markets to U.S. small businesses. Trade agreements create sales opportunities, reduce costs and diminish uncertainties. Through trade agreements we can implement intellectual property rights standards, establish substantive investment protections and provide increased transparency to U.S. exporters. Currently, CEA urges Congress to pass the Peru, Colombia, Panama and Korea Free Trade Agreements.
- Reauthorize trade promotion authority. Without trade promotion authority our trading partners will be reluctant to negotiate trade pacts with the U.S. America’s hands will be tied, and the U.S. will fall behind other nations negotiating trade agreements at an unprecedented pace.
- Eliminate non-tariff barriers. Non-tariff barriers hinder trade and burden small companies with unnecessary compliance costs. Examples of these barriers include cumbersome customs regulations, corrupt government procurement processes, and most recently, a proliferation of divergent or non-harmonized approaches to environmental standards, among others.
- Uphold and enforce trade agreements. In addition to pursuing new agreements, the U.S. must commit to maintaining and enforcing those agreements already in place. The U.S. must take an aggressive stance to protect products already covered by the WTO’s Information Technology Agreement (ITA). The ITA covers over 97 percent of the world trade in information technology products, and provides for the elimination of duties on those covered products. But as technology has evolved, many countries claim that the ITA does not apply to the next generation of covered products. It is crucial for the United States to uphold provisions of the ITA that allow for future developments of IT products and enable companies to enjoy the full scope of the agreements intended duty-free benefits.
For more information on the CEA trade initiative, please go to www.CE.org.
About CEA:
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is the preeminent trade association promoting
growth in the $148 billion U.S. consumer technology industry through technology policy,
events, research, promotion and the fostering of business and strategic relationships. CEA
represents more than 2,100 corporate members involved in the design, development,
manufacturing, distribution and integration of audio, video, mobile electronics, wireless
and landline communications, information technology, digital imaging, home networking,
multimedia and accessory products, as well as related services that are sold through
consumer channels. CEA's resources are available online at www.CE.org, the definitive source for information about the consumer
electronics industry. CEA also sponsors and manages the International CES – Where
Entertainment, Technology and Business Converge. All profits from CES are reinvested into
industry services, including technical training and education, industry promotion,
engineering standards development, market research and legislative advocacy.
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CEA CALLS ON CONGRESS TO ACT ON TRADE AGREEMENTS