Emergency Committee For American Trade

ECAT Calls on G-20 Leaders to Take Bold Steps to Shore Up the International Economy

News Release For Immediate Release

November 14, 2008 Contact: Liz Clemons

202.659.5147

ECAT CALLS ON G-20 LEADERS TO TAKE BOLD STEPS TO SHORE UP THE INTERNATIONAL ECONOMY

Urges Leaders to Commit to Keeping Markets Open and to Push for a Strong Doha Result

Washington, D.C., November 14, 2008: Harold McGraw III, Chairman, President and CEO of The McGraw-Hill Companies and Chairman of the Emergency Committee for American Trade (ECAT), issued the following statement in advance of the Global Economic Summit being convened by President Bush with the other Group of 20 (G-20) leaders on November 15^th:

“ECAT applauds President Bush and the other G-20 leaders for coming together in Washington, D.C., this week to address the continued instability and weakness in the international economy. At this difficult time, ECAT believes that the leadership of the G-20 can have a significant impact in terms of calming financial markets and developing bold, effective plans to stimulate growth in the world economy. Many of the G-20 countries, such as the United States, China, and several in Europe, already have begun to take important steps.

“Any roadmap to address the current challenges must include two key trade components:

· First, the G-20 leaders must maintain their commitment to open markets and not succumb to protectionist pressures to implement additional trade restrictions. Restricting trade at this critical time will do far more harm than good – both to the world economy and to the individual economies that take such measures.

· Second, the G-20 countries must commit to immediately returning to the table to move the Doha Development Agenda (Doha) negotiations toward a concrete and ambitious outcome. While recent efforts to jumpstart the World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha negotiations were not successful due to the reluctance of a few countries to make concrete liberalization commitments, ECAT believes that Doha negotiations can be unlocked. The current challenges of the international economy add urgency to the need for all countries to move forward, not backward, on the trade liberalization that will provide an important stimulus for developed and developing countries alike.

“ECAT and its member companies look forward to working with U.S. leaders and each of the G-20 countries in helping to restore growth and confidence in the world economy.”

# # #

Founded in 1967, ECAT is an organization of the heads of leading U.S. international business enterprises representing all major sectors of the American economy. Their annual worldwide sales total over $2.8 trillion and they employ more than six million persons. ECAT’s purpose is to promote economic growth through the expansion of international trade and investment.

Attached Document(s): 11-14-08 ECAT Statement on Global Economic Summit.pdf