2: Exports
Become an export giant.
Stakeholder(s):
- Democrats: Summary: Democrats must accept that expanding U.S. exports comes primarily through aggressive new trade measures like the
Trans Pacific Partnership. -- Democrats must accept that America's future economic growth hinges almost entirely on our engagement
with overseas trading partners. Expanding U.S. exports is contingent upon trade agreements. In the 17 countries in which the
United States has bilateral trade agreements, we have a manufacturing trade surplus—in contrast to our massive manufacturing
deficit in countries where we don't have an agreement. Our biggest trade deficit is with China -- a country with which we
have no agreement. Democrats must also accept that there is value in imports that goes beyond consumers' ability to purchase
inexpensive goods. There are entire industries and millions of jobs that are related to transporting, selling, and assembling
imports. Part of our trade deficit has little to do with unfair practices abroad, but the unwillingness of American business
and labor to agree to a modern cost structure (particularly as it pertains to non-wage benefits) that allow us to compete
on price. Some ideas Democrats should support include the conclusion of a trans-Pacific trade pact that addresses tariff and
non-tariff barriers to regional trade and creates a new architecture for high-standard trade agreements; an international
services agreement that helps open export markets for financial products, insurance, and other services; renewed efforts to
reduce health care costs for employers, such as the Cadillac tax on high cost plans; and a continued ratcheting down of formal
and informal trade barriers on all sides of the border.
- Republicans: Summary: Republicans must accept that more must be spent on enforcing unfair trade practices and on displaced workers who
need help and training due to their exposure to trade. -- Republicans must accept that even the most Schumpetarian economist
knows that trade will create winners and losers in the United States. Disruption through creative destruction accelerated
through global trade has very real costs despite the important net benefits it creates for society. They must accept that
we are in an especially dynamic period of global transition in which enormous labor economies that were previously outside
of the free market world are now inside and have created a glut of low-cost labor. Helping people cope and come through this
disruption should not be a grudging concession to win a couple of trade deals, but a national priority to make trade work
better for more Americans. They must accept that more must be spent on enforcing unfair trade practices, helping U.S. businesses
navigate international markets, and promoting American products. In an earlier Third Way report, we identified 8 specific
trade barriers that America must force China to address beyond currency. Nearly every export problem -- dealing with standards,
quotas, intellectual property theft, and non-tariff barriers -- is at its worst in China and none can be solved without greater
resources devoted to rules-based trade. Some ideas Republicans should embrace include full support for Trade Assistance Act
efforts for displaced workers; support for continuing education for adults; aggressive funding of the President's new Interagency
Trade Enforcement Center as well as other enforcement efforts across industrial sectors; and new investments in effective
export promotion programs modeled on Germany's successful system.
Objective(s):
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