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Canada, Mexico need seat at trade table

13/09/2012    71

The California Chamber of Commerce is supporting participation by Canada and Mexico in a proposed trade agreement whose current members account for more than $14 billion in our states exports.

Leaders of the nine current Trans-Pacific Partnership countries — Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam and the U.S. — have announced broad outlines of an ambitious, high-standarded and regional 21st-century agreement.

The agreement hinges on participants complying with current international norms and obligations and commiting to the high standards currently being negotiated for trade and investment as well as intellectual property protection and enforcement.

Agreements like this one insure that the U.S. will continue to gain access to world markets, which will result in an improved economy and additional employment for Americans.

Canada and Mexico are prepared to stand alongside the U.S. as some of the most ambitious countries in the TPP negotiations and are committed to discussing all topics at the table.

Since 1990, Asia-Pacific goods trade has increased by 300 percent. Global investment in the region has increased by more than 400 percent. U.S. trade with Asian countries totals nearly $1 trillion annually.

The United States is gradually losing market share. Asian countries have negotiated more than 160 trade agreements among themselves while the U.S. has signed only three. (Korea, Singapore and Australia) 

As the state covering the majority of the West Coast, California has much to gain with the Trans-Pacific agreement.

Adding Canada and Mexico to the TPP agreement will benefit our state and the U.S. as a whole.

September 11, 2012

Source: The Business Journal

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