Business Roundtable Cites Positive Impact on U.S. Jobs in Call to Keep Trade Agenda Moving Forward

Meeting the Challenge of Increased International Competition Seen as the Key to Continued U.S. Economic Growth

Washington, D.C. - Business Roundtable, representing 160 CEOs of leading American companies with $4.5 trillion in combined annual revenues and more than 10 million employees, today urged Congress to keep the U.S. trade agenda on track, releasing two new studies detailing the importance of international trade and investment to job growth and U.S. competitiveness in the global economy.

"Trade and American Jobs" details how one in five U.S. jobs is linked to trade; and "We Can't Stand Still: The Race for International Competitiveness" offers a detailed examination of how America's biggest international competitors are moving aggressively to forge new trade agreements that exclude the United States.

"Global trade, investment and engagement lead to better jobs, better economies and better lives around the world," said Jim Owens, Chairman & CEO, Caterpillar Inc., and Chairman of Business Roundtable's Trade and Investment Task Force. "It is both troubling and puzzling that during the best three years of global economic growth in the post-World War II era, many Americans are advocating turning inward."

Owens noted several important findings detailed in "Trade and American Jobs."

• International trade has had a net positive impact on U.S. jobs, including the manufacturing sector;
• A decade of trade liberalization has more than doubled the number of U.S. jobs related to trade; and,
• Because of international trade, U.S. wages are higher than they would otherwise be.

"With 31 million U.S. jobs related to trade, and one quarter of U.S. GDP directly linked to trade, it is time to embrace open markets and reject calls for protectionism," Owens continued.

Business Roundtable also released "We Can't Stand Still: The Race for International Competitiveness," which offers a detailed look at how economies such as the EU, China, Brazil, India and Japan are all actively pursuing bilateral and regional trade agreements that will exclude the United States - putting U.S. manufacturers, service providers, farmers, workers and consumers at a disadvantage.

"The United States should accelerate, not slow the pace of our trade negotiating strategy," said Sy Sternberg, Chairman & CEO, New York Life Insurance Company, and Vice Chairman of Business Roundtable's Trade and Investment Task Force. "We cannot afford to be on the sidelines while our overseas competitors negotiate agreements that will give their companies, workers and farmers competitive advantages over ours. We urge Congress and the Administration to find the common ground needed to move our trade and investment policies forward."

Among the many findings, the new Business Roundtable study points to the following:

• Approximately 300 free trade agreements (FTAs) have been negotiated, with over half coming since 2002;
• Today, more than 50 percent of world trade occurs through FTAs;
• The European Union is party to more FTAs than any other economy, and has just announced negotiations with a new wave of strategic FTA partners in Asia and elsewhere;
• China is negotiating or preparing for negotiation of 11 FTAs involving 28 countries around the world, and Japan is negotiating or preparing for negotiation of more than a dozen FTAs;
• In total, our biggest foreign competitors - EU, Japan, China, India and Brazil/MERCOSUR - have plans to conclude 60 new bilateral or regional FTAs that exclude the United States; and,
• Without trade promotion authority (TPA), the United States runs the risk of having no new FTAs to match our major competitors.

Click the following for a link to:

• Trade and American Jobs ( PDF)
• We Can't Stand Still: The Race for International Competitiveness ( PDF)

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Business Roundtable (www.businessroundtable.org) is an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. companies with $4.5 trillion in annual revenues and more than 10 million employees. Member companies comprise nearly a third of the total value of the U.S. stock markets and represent over 40 percent of all corporate income taxes paid. Collectively, they returned $112 billion in dividends to shareholders and the economy in 2005.

Roundtable companies give more than $7 billion a year in combined charitable contributions, representing nearly 60 percent of total corporate giving. They are technology innovation leaders, with $90 billion in annual research and development spending - nearly half of the total private R&D spending in the U.S.

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