Trade Promotion Authority deal vital to job growth

Trade is creating more jobs in the U.S., making it critical that lawmakers reach a deal on Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) that would promote growth and help to export more American-made products, Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-OH) recently said. 

TPA legislation expedites congressional guidance procedures to the president on trade policy and negotiating objectives.

Proponents such as Tiberi say TPA supports U.S. job growth. Every $1 billion in exports translates into more than 5,000 U.S. jobs.

Tiberi, who sits on the House Ways and Means Committee, said the economy and especially manufacturing is changing due to technological advancement. 

“Twenty years ago, 10 people worked on a shop floor, but now there’s only one worker making the same products,” Tiberi said in a written statement to The Ripon Society. 

Ohio is among the country’s top 10 largest exporting states.

Tiberi said the United States is currently negotiating trade agreements with 11 Asia-pacific countries, 28 member countries of the European Union and 22 other countries for a trade in services agreements.

“What’s not talked about is overall we have a trade surplus with the 20 nations we already have trade agreements with,” Tiberi said. “Access to even more consumers would help American businesses grow.”

The nation’s most recent trade agreements with South Korea, Columbia and Panama were negotiated using TPA, he noted.