President Barack Obama outlined his plans for forging new trade deals at the President’s Export Council meeting in March, promoting the agreements as a way to spur economic growth and help create jobs.
Creating new, free trade deals will help the country chip away at the 7.7 percent unemployment rate, he told the council, while sustaining job growth and momentum.
The United States has already ratified trade deals with Panama, Colombia and South Korea, but now is focusing on the Trans-Pacific Partnership — an agreement between a number of nations in the Americas, Asia and Australia. The Trans-Pacific Partnership would create a high bar for fair, free trade among these nations, he said.
Obama said by adding higher labor and environmental standards, the world will reap the benefits by generating billions of dollars and creating millions of new jobs.
In addition, Obama said he will begin working on a new effort to lock in an E.U.-U.S. trade deal, which will secure thousands of additional jobs, while breaking down some barriers between the Eurozone and the United States to help produce more products and services.
There is room for small and medium-sized U.S. businesses to export directly, Obama said in his remarks, and not just to supply large businesses, but to enter these markets on their own: “That can make a huge difference in terms of our long-term prospects. So overall this is a good story; this is an optimistic story; but it’s one that we’re going to have to continue to sustain,” he continued.
Taking on international exporting can be a huge boost to domestic businesses and lead to job growth, according to the International Trade Administration. The organization argues that exporting is viable, and a good move, for many companies. Improvements in trade finance and communications have made it far easier to break into exporting; sales grow faster and employees earn more, on average, for companies that export. It also mitigates a company’s potential risks, because exporting will help shelter companies from the ups and downs of the U.S. economy.
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