By Rep. Fred Upton -
The House of Representatives last week took historic action to promote U.S. goods and create American jobs with the approval of free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea.
Hundreds of thousands of American jobs rely on exports, and promoting a robust trade agenda will only help bolster our economy and create more jobs. Ninety-five percent of the world’s consumers live outside of the United States, so opening up their markets for our manufactured and agricultural goods is a matter of common sense.
In 2010, U.S. exports totaled more than $1.8 trillion, or 12.5 percent of our gross domestic product. Michigan, in fact, ranks eighth in the nation for the number of export-dependent jobs. In 2008, nearly 12,000 companies exported goods from locations within our state. And last year, Michigan export shipments totaled some $44.5 billion.
These groundbreaking agreements will bring significant benefits to our state by expanding market access for many of our industries – such as aircraft and auto parts, plastics, and computer and electronic products, just to name a few. Colombia, Panama, and South Korea want our products and services – now with barriers removed on their end, we can compete in these countries and meet their demand.
These three free trade agreements are also expected to increase Michigan agriculture exports by $45 million per year – the agreement with South Korea alone will increase Michigan pork exports by $4.5 million annually. This is welcomed news to our local farmers.
The medical device industry stands to benefit greatly from these agreements as well. Demand for medical devices in South Korea is expected to grow by 10 percent each year, and the new duty-free status given to devices will give local companies like Stryker unprecedented access to this market.
By removing barriers to U.S. exports, American job creators will have significant new market access; that is good news for businesses, jobs, and Southwest Michigan.
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