U.S. Business and Industry Council
Fighting for American companies
Fighting for American jobs
Contact Kevin L. Kearns: 202 957 9994
Washington, October 5 – The members of the U.S. Business and Industry Council (USBIC) categorically reject the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal announced this morning as completely inadequate to serve the interests of American manufacturers, workers, farmers, and other segments of the US economy. Additionally, USBIC notes that the Obama administration, by refusing to include enforceable currency manipulation provisions, is offering an open invitation for TPP member countries Japan, Malaysia, and Singapore to continue their unfair, anti-competitive currency practices without fear of consequences.
Kevin L. Kearns, USBIC president, said, “In concluding the TPP deal announced today, the Obama administration has refused to carry out the will of Congress and its specific negotiating instructions to include enforceable currency provisions in the agreement. The omission of meaningful currency language is not only a deal-breaker, but also an open invitation to Japan, Malaysia and Singapore, among others, to continue to use currency cheating to gain competitive advantage over American companies.”
Kearns continued, “In addition, the lack of enforceable currency provisions in the TPP signals China and other East Asian non-party manipulators that they are ‘home free’ and can continue to use currency market interventions to boost sales without fear that the United States will seek any redress. Finally, the lack of currency provisions sets a terrible precedent for the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership trade deal. Several European nations are currency manipulators as well and now know that they can continue their practices without any consequences.”
Kearns concluded, “The TPP is not free trade and it is not fair trade. It is government-managed trade. Witness the horse-trading at the all-night Atlanta negotiating sessions, where executive branch negotiators decided which industries would be sacrificed to achieve a deal and cement the “Obama legacy.” Industrial sectors such as autos, dairy, agriculture, and pharmaceuticals are government-designated losers under the TPP. Today’s statements by leading Members of Congress, saying they must study the deal to see what’s in it, indicate that the representatives of the American people were not adequately consulted. The Obama administration’s penchant for secret negotiations, favoritism, and crony capitalism along with blatant disregard for Congressional instructions on currency should not be allowed to stand when the TPP comes to Congress for a vote. To preserve the integrity of the trade negotiating process and to force achievement of a better trade deal, Congress must reject this woefully inadequate TPP trade agreement.”
The USBIC was founded in 1933 to represent the concerns of America’s small and medium-sized business community. Member companies are typically family-owned or privately held, mostly in the manufacturing sector. They are often the major employers in their home communities and the mainstays of the local economy. This membership composition has given the USBIC an outlook on issues more rooted in main street America than other national business groups, which are dominated by giant multinational corporations with global agendas and dwindling national loyalties.
