Free Trade Agreements key to doubling exports

During his State of the Union address in January, President Obama stated his goal of doubling U.S. exports by 2015. I was pleasantly surprised to hear this pledge, yet in the ensuing months the lack of action has been disappointing. While the National Export Initiative sounds bold and productive, it hasn't produced much more than proposals to increase spending at various federal agencies. Alternatively, a renewed commitment to ratifying the pending trade agreements would require no increased spending and would greatly benefit our country's agricultural producers, our businesses, and our economy.

When the President stated his export goal, he specifically mentioned his desire to "strengthen our trade relations...with key partners like South Korea, and Panama, and Colombia." What he didn't mention was that, as far back as three years ago, U.S. representatives signed trade agreements with each of these three countries. By lowering tariffs and other barriers, these agreements would increase American exports, save American jobs, and level the playing field for American producers in these markets. Yet they sit idle, waiting for the President to send them to Congress for ratification.

The risk of inaction was driven home earlier this month when the Korean Embassy's Economic Affairs Minister told a group of American pork producers, "The U.S. runs the risk of losing the Korean market within a decade if we can't get a free-trade agreement ratified." At the same time, he reported that his country is in trade negotiations with Canada and India, and expects completion of a deal with the European Union by January. This means that not only are we taking a pass at lower tariffs, but by watching other nations pass us by we risk losing our current share of each market. Lost markets mean lost American jobs.

A recent report by the United States Chamber of Commerce gives us an idea of the economic consequences should these trade agreements continue to sit on the shelf. The report concluded that a failure to act would result in the loss of up to 380,000 American jobs. To put this in perspective, our economy's private sector added only 41,000 jobs last month. If our economy continues to grow at the same pace, it would take until April 2011 just to make up the jobs lost due to prolonged inaction on trade agreements ready to be submitted to Congress right now.

On the other hand, there is much to be gained by expanding markets outside the U.S., which make up 95 percent of the world's consumers. For starters, more than 90 percent of Colombian imports currently enter the U.S. tariff-free; the agreement would level the playing field for our producers who currently pay as much as 35 percent on exports into Colombia. The billions of dollars in tariffs paid since the agreements were signed, including $2.8 billion in Colombia alone, would no longer be charged on American exports. A study by the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) estimates more than 60 percent of American agricultural commodities would enter Panama duty-free, as well as approximately 88 percent of consumer and industrial products. USITC additionally projects the South Korean agreement to increase our exports there by $10 billion.

Further analysis by the American Meat Institute estimates that implementing all three agreements would lead to an increase in beef, pork, and poultry exports of $2.3 billion and the creation of nearly 30,000 jobs in those industries. Finally, the Chamber of Commerce projects all U.S. exports would increase by $40 billion due to the enactment of the trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea.

The need for action now is clear. As we pull ourselves out of a recession, American producers and exporters deserve every opportunity they can get to maintain their unrivaled status in distributing food and other goods throughout the world. Five months after so strongly declaring the goal of doubling U.S. exports, it is time for the Administration to begin making serious strides toward achieving it. Nothing is stopping the President from sending the agreements to Congress for an up or down vote. He can do this today. Our businesses are waiting; our farmers are waiting. Our trading partners and allies are no longer waiting. They're ready to write off the U.S. as a country that signs agreements with no intention of putting them into place. They're moving forward with our competitors, leaving American products in warehouses. The time is now for the President to act on his export pledge; the future of American trade rests on his shoulders.