Stasis is the enemy of progress, and political paralysis is deadly for trade policy. I hope the trade community no longer accepts political paralysis in 2015.
When I travel around the world, one of the biggest misconceptions about the United States that I find among foreigners (even people who spend significant time in the U.S.) is that they don’t understand that we are a “bottom-up” society. That is, what happens at school board meetings and zoning board hearings is often more important than what happens in Congress. Our political system requires three components to move legislation: 1) a consensus among a majority of the electorate; 2) compromise among policymakers; and 3) trust between the legislative and executive branches. For the last several years, we have not had any of these components to move trade legislation.
So how do we move forward on trade issues in a political environment without these vital components? We need to go back to our local communities with small businesses to build a broad-based national consensus in support of free trade. Let’s start with the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill and renewal of the Generalized System of Preferences, which benefit a broader swath of business, not just multinational companies, and already have a political consensus in Congress. Thereafter, we can take on the more politically divisive issues, such as Trade Promotion Authority, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and the Transatlantic-Trade and Investment Partnership.
In 2015, let’s get back to basics and work together to build a national consensus on trade.
Marianne Rowden, President and CEO, American Association of Exporters and Importers