[CTC] Trade minister promises no revisions to KORUS FTA

[Adam Weissman]

Transcript from The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

July 07, 2010

 

Remarks by the President Announcing the President's Export Council

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-announcing-pres
idents-export-council 

 

East Room

11:50 A.M. EDT

 

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.  (Applause.)    Everybody, please be
seated.  Well, good morning.  Thank you, Jim McNerney, for being here.  And
thank you to members of my Cabinet and my administration for coming.  Thank
you, Gary Locke, for that introduction and the outstanding work that you've
been doing at Commerce to move America's economy forward.

 

(Excerpts)

 

. . . we're upping our efforts to remove barriers to trade and open new
markets and new opportunities for American business. On a global level, this
begins with pushing hard in the Doha Round to improve those negotiations so
that they have a higher level of ambition in the way that will translate
directly into more opportunities for American exporters.  Regionally, we're
working on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement to expand our
commercial presence in some of the most dynamic markets in Asia.  And where
our businesses run up against barriers in individual markets, we are acting.


 

---

 

I've instructed U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk to begin discussions to
help resolve outstanding issues with the pending Korean Free Trade Agreement
before my visit to Korea in November. It's an agreement that will create new
jobs and opportunity for people in both of our countries. 

 

We also want to deepen and broaden our relations with Panama and Colombia.
So we're working to resolve outstanding issues with the free trade
agreements with those key partners, and we're focused on submitting them as
soon as possible for congressional consideration.  And we'll make sure each
agreement we pursue doesn't just advance the interests of our businesses,
workers, and farmers, but also upholds our most cherished values.

 

---

 

Ninety-five percent of the world's customers and fastest growing markets are
beyond our borders.  So if we want to find new growth streams, if we want to
find new markets and new opportunity, we've got to compete for those new
customers -- because other nations are competing for those new customers.

 

As I've said many times, the United States of America should not, cannot,
will not, play for second place.  We mean to compete for those jobs -- and
we mean to win.  But we're going to have to change how we do business.

 

---

 

But this is about more than what government can do; this is about what our
businesses can do.  And that's why we are re-launching the President's
Export Council, a group that includes business and labor leaders who will
offer their unfiltered advice and expertise on how best to promote exports.
We've also included congressional leaders and senior representatives of my
administration. 

 

And earlier today, members of my Cabinet and I met with this council to
begin soliciting advice.  And I want to, again, thank Jim, President and CEO
of Boeing, as well as Ursula Burns, CEO of Xerox, for agreeing to serve as
the chair and vice chair.

 

Full transcript at
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-announcing-pres
idents-export-council 

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