Froman Brings TPP Push to U.S. Mayors
Foreign tariffs on made-in-America car engines, U.S. paint, hammers, and optical fiber will be cut to zero under the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and the reductions will affect products made in all 50 states, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman told the U.S. Conference of Mayors in on Jan. 20 in Washington, according to prepared remarks. The speech continues the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s push to sell national and local legislators on the deal, after Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Robert Holleyman met with New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu and regional industry officials for a business roundtable to tout how TPP could help Louisiana exports and jobs, according to a Jan. 19 press release (here). Made-in-America engines, U.S. paint exports, hammers, and optical fiber are currently tariffed at 50, 25, 20 and 20 percent, respectively, Froman said.
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Froman framed the pact as a “race to the top” for the 12 member countries, saying the agreement’s high labor and environmental standards will incentivize other nations to raise theirs. He also emphasized the benefits he said the agreement will provide in terms of removal of trade barriers and helping small business, giving those companies—the vast majority of which do not export—access to more than 95 percent of world customers living beyond U.S. borders, he said. “TPP has a comprehensive set of services commitments that help American innovators, everyone from our artists to our engineers, tap into the growing Asian markets,” Froman said. “It will enable our express delivery industry to bring goods direct to Asia-Pacific consumers, create new opportunities for U.S.-based insurers, engineering firms, environmental remediation firms and others.”
For a copy of Froman’s prepared remarks for the U.S. Conference of Mayors, email ITTNews@warren-news.com.