Chamber Says 2nd Obama Administration Should Focus on Lowering Trade Barriers

Getting an international playing field that is fair to U.S. trade is the key for American jobs and companies, should be the top priority for the second Obama administration, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said in a new report. It said the U.S. market is largely open to imports, but 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.

It said the Obama administration should focus on:

• Securing renewal of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) to ensure the president has the authority to get new trade agreements in close consultation with Congress. It would make sense to renew TPA "alongside a customs reauthorization bill (which exists in an advanced draft) and renewal of the Generalized System of Preferences (which will lapse on July 31, 2013)," said the Chamber.
• Future trade agreements should include transparent and expedited customs clearance and other measures to facilitate cross-border trade, e.g., by establishing high customs de minimis levels while fighting counterfeit and pirated goods.
• Concluding a comprehensive, high-standard, and commercially meaningful Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement in 2013.
• Launching negotiations as soon as possible for a comprehensive Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Agreement that would eliminate tariffs and non-tariff barriers to trade.
• Strengthening the global rules-based trading system by negotiating an International Services Agreement, expanding product coverage under the Information Technology Agreement, reaching a trade facilitation agreement under the World Trade Organization (WTO), and ensuring robust enforcement of trade agreements.
• Negotiating bilateral investment treaties (BITs) with India and China and consider launching BIT negotiations with other key markets such as Indonesia, Russia, and the East African Community.
• Exploring bilateral trade agreements with significant U.S. trading partners.
• Modernizing export controls to enhance U.S. national security and competitiveness.
• Implementing the administration's recent executive order on international regulatory cooperation to support U.S. international economic interests.

World trade is "playing a vital role" in reaching the U.S. job-creation goal, the Chamber study said. One in three manufacturing jobs depends on exports, it said. But new forms of protectionism have emerged, including discriminatory industrial policies and more aggressive use of subsidies, restrictions on exports of critical raw materials, and measures such as local content rules and performance requirements.

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