CALL TO ACTION!
Once
again, businesses in the United States are being threatened with a
"free-trade" agreement that may have devastating results on several
industry sectors. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TTP) is a
free-trade agreement that aims to further liberalize the economies of
the Asia-Pacific region. There are currently 11 countries in
negotiations, but several others have expressed interest in being active
partners.
Why are we bringing this to your attention? One of our local manufacturers has expressed concern about the far reaching impact of some of the proposals. In particular, the U.S. textile industry will experience widespread plant closures and job losses if the U.S. does not demand certain specific requirements. Keep in mind that Vietnam is one of the negotiating partners. Vietnam's apparel industry utilizes extensive government subsidies and the government owned VINATEX is the largest apparel exporter in Vietnam. This puts our textile industry at a definite disadvantage. Click here for a fact sheet from the National Council of Textile Organizations that details the threat to our textile industry.
However, the agreement impacts far more than the textile industry and it behooves us to pay very close attention to what little information is coming out of the negotiations. Negotiations are cloaked in secrecy. As a matter of fact, United States Senator Ron Wyden introduced S. 3225 that would require the Office of the United States Trade Representative to disclose its TTP documents to all members of Congress. There is also some maneuvering to by-pass the normal congressional method of approving free-trade agreements. For additional information, click here to consult a Wikipedia article concerning the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
CALL TO ACTION
Armed with these facts the Chamber urges you to contact your Senator and Representative and register your support of S.3225 and urge them to monitor the TTP negotiations and protect U.S. manufacturers and jobs.
If you prefer to write to a member of our Washington Legislative Delegation click here and go to the Chamber's blog site for the address.
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