Emergency Committee For American Trade

ECAT Chairman Urges Congressional Approval of Vietnam PNTR, Peru and Colombia Trade Agreements, and AGOA and GSP

September 7, 2006

The Honorable J. Dennis Hastert The Honorable Bill Frist

Speaker Majority Leader

U.S. House of Representatives U.S. Senate

Washington, D.C. 20515 Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable John Boehner The Honorable Harry Reid

Majority Leader Minority Leader

U.S. House of Representatives U.S. Senate

Washington, D.C. 20515 Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi

Minority Leader

U.S. House of Representatives

Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Speaker Hastert and Leaders Boehner, Pelosi, Frist and Reid:

On behalf of the members of the Emergency Committee for American Trade (ECAT), I am writing to ask for your support for the passage of several key international trade measures before the completion of the 109^th Congress. In particular, ECAT strongly supports:

· passage of legislation authorizing permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) with Vietnam,

· implementation of the U.S.-Peru and U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreements,

· extension of the third-country fabric provisions of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), and

· extension of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP).

ECAT, an association of the chief executives of leading U.S. business enterprises with global operations, was founded more than three decades ago to promote economic growth through expansionary trade and investment policies. Today, ECAT’s members represent all principal sectors of the U.S. economy – agriculture, finance, high technology, manufacturing, merchandising, processing, publishing and services. The combined exports of ECAT member companies run into the tens of billions of dollars. The jobs they provide for American men and women – including the jobs accounted for by suppliers, dealers, and subcontractors – are located in every state and cover skills of all levels. Their collective annual worldwide sales total nearly $2.4 trillion, and they employ more than five and one-half million persons.

Recognizing the limited time available on this year’s legislative calendar, ECAT believes that each of these measures warrants Congress’s attention and action this year as a way to promote economic opportunity at home and abroad, as well as foster broader U.S. national interests.

· With respect to Vietnam, Congress must authorize PNTR before Vietnam enters the World Trade Organization (WTO) this fall or U.S. companies, farmers and workers will lose the ability to enforce and benefit from many of the commitments that U.S. negotiators secured from Vietnam, while our competitors in Europe, Asia and the Americas win key markets.

· The United States also has negotiated comprehensive, high-standard and market-opening agreements with Peru and Colombia. Assuming that the Colombia TPA is signed before Congress adjourns, ECAT strongly supports implementation of both the Peru and Colombia TPAs. A substantial portion of imports from both countries are currently duty-free under U.S. preference programs; the TPAs level the playing field for U.S. exporters, service providers and investors in ways that create new economic opportunities here in the United States.

· Both the AGOA and GSP trade programs provide important benefits to developing countries by promoting economic opportunity and development, and helping to promote larger U.S. development and security objectives. Renewal of the AGOA third-country fabric provisions now will help ensure that pro-development trade with several African countries is not unnecessarily disrupted. GSP expires at the end of 2006 and therefore needs to be renewed not only to create needed economic opportunities to numerous developing countries, but also to promote new opportunities for U.S. companies and lower costs for U.S. consumers.

For all these reasons, ECAT strongly urges your support for the passage of these important trade measures before the end of the 109^th session of Congress.

Sincerely,

[Signed in the Original]

Harold McGraw III

Chairman, President and CEO, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

and

Chairman, Emergency Committee for American Trade

Attached Document(s): 9-07-06 ECAT Letter on Trade Agenda.pdf
09-07-06 ECAT Press Release.pdf