America Must Engage the Global Economy

Donald J. Shepard
Chairman of the Board
U.S. Chamber of Commerce

They reverberate on the campaign trail, surface in the media, and reveal themselves in public opinion polls. Negative American attitudes toward international trade and investment are on the rise, threatening the country's competitiveness and prosperity.

The arguments are familiar: Trade kills jobs, decimates communities, and lowers our standard of living. But a look at the facts reveals a different reality. Trade is equivalent to about one-third of our entire economy. Booming U.S. exports generated more than a quarter of U.S. GDP growth in 2007. Trade supports at least 12 million good-paying American jobs. One in five U.S. factory jobs depends on exports, and one in three acres of American farmland is planted for consumers overseas.

Nevertheless, many political and opinion leaders want to halt new trade deals and renegotiate successful, established free trade pacts. Slowly but surely, they are building a wall around the United States.

The business community must not allow this to happen. It must educate the public and make the case for fair trade, in which U.S. goods and services shipped overseas are given the same treatment as those we import. It must acknowledge that trade dislocates
some workers in some industries and that these workers deserve education and retraining.

Finally, we must convince Americans that a withdrawal from the global economy has severe consequences-higher prices, fewer choices in the marketplace, and millions of Americans headed for the unemployment line.