SBEA Participates in World Trade Week

June 11, 2008

As the nation celebrated World Trade Week, the Small Business Exporters Association of the United States took part in a special salute to exporters that was held at the White House. Arrayed across the White House lawn were dozens of products -- ranging from a bushel of wheat to a giant piece of earth-moving equipment -- that are made in the U.S. and sold overseas by U.S. companies. The striking display drove home a point that is sometimes overlooked in discussions about international trade: the U.S. is not only the world’s largest exporting nation it is also the largest exporting nation in the history of the world.

President Bush welcomed the invited guests, who included exporters, associations, and government officials who help promote U.S. exports. He told them that, to sustain domestic economic growth, U.S. business needs to maintain its focus on the 96 percent of the world’s customers who are not Americans.

He also called on Congress to approve pending trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea.

The Colombia agreement is mired in a Congressional dispute, despite the fact that Colombian products already enter the United States duty-free, and the pending agreement would simply give U.S. goods the same duty-free treatment when they enter Colombia. The agreement also would help promote security in an unstable region of the Western Hemisphere.

SBEA members see strong upside advantages for their businesses with all three of the pending agreements.