Monthly eNewsletter
February 2012
In This Issue
Russia MFN Feedback
International Competitiveness Strategy
State of Trade Blog

WCIT In the News



 

Korea deal opens door to potatoes, hay and law firms (Puget Sound Business Journal, 1/13/12)

 


WCIT Advisory Board


 Phil Bussey, Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce*

 

Mark Calhoon, Washington State Department of Commerce*

 

Steve Crane, Crane International

 

Dorothy Dwoskin, Microsoft Corporation (Board Vice-Chair) 

 

Karl Ege, Perkins Coie

 

Matt Harris, Washington State Potato Commission

 

Commissioner Rob Holland, Port of Seattle

 

Harvey Jones, Waterstone Brands, Inc. (Board Treasurer) 

 

Henry Kotkins, Skyway Luggage

 

Michael Nunes, Boeing Company (Board Chair) 

 

Commissioner Clare Petrich, Port of Tacoma

 

Mark Powers, NW Horticultural Council

 

David Tang, K&L Gates LLP 

 

*ex-officio


Message from WCIT President
Eric Schinfeld 

Last month, I spent a week in Washington, DC meeting with key partners and stakeholders on issues of importance to our state's trade community. I returned with two conclusions: 1) DC is really nice when it's 55 degrees and sunny in January, and 2) trade is going be a major topic of conversation over the next six months!

My visit happened to coincide with the State of the Union address, and I counted eight major references to trade in the President's speech - from a celebration of the passage of the three free trade agreements last year to highlighting the importance of protecting US companies' intellectual property abroad. And this was only two weeks after the President released a major proposal to merge six trade-related agencies into one focused Trade Department.

My main message to folks in DC was that there are two issues that must be addressed within the first half of 2012 or else the United States will be at a significant disadvantage in its international competitiveness:
the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, and Congressional approval of Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) with Russia.

As I wrote about in my most recent Crosscut.com column, the Ex-Im Bank is only authorized to continue operations until May 31 of this year. If Congress does not act, a vital tool for Washington companies to export will be lost. And if Congress does not pass PNTR with Russia by the time Russia accepts its WTO membership this summer, US companies will be left watching their competitors from every other country in the world take advantage of Russia's lower tariffs and non-tariff market barrier reductions.

These are two highly time-sensitive issues, and WCIT has been working hard to make sure that our Congressional delegation understands how important swift action is on each of them. We look forward to working with all of you to ensure a successful effort on both fronts.
WCIT Releases New Factsheet Highlighting Impact of Russia WTO Accession for WA Businesses
  

This summer, Russia plans to formally accept its membership in the World Trade Organization. To help Washington businesses understand this opportunity, WCIT has released a new factsheet that highlights the potential impact of this policy issue.    

 

Russia is one of Washington's fastest growing trading partners, with Washington exports to Russia growing approximately 80% from 2010 to 2011. Upon its WTO accession, Russia will reduce more than 1/3 of their tariffs immediately, and then include significant reductions over the next three years. In particular, Russia's WTO accession will lower tariffs and non-tariff market barriers for several of our state's key exports. Commercial airplane tariffs will be cut in half, while intellectual property protections for ICT products will increase significantly. Washington's agricultural industry will benefit from both reduced tariffs as well as improved food safety standards. Finally, Russia's growing middle class and significant infrastructure needs will provide opportunities for a variety of Washington's manufacturers, service providers and retailers.

   

However, Washington companies will not be able to take advantage of any of these opportunities unless Congress passes Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) with Russia. Without that vital step, U.S. businesses will sit on the sidelines and watch competitors from every other country in the world take advantage of Russia's tariff reductions and non-tariff market barrier reductions. And remember: PNTR does not require the United States to change one tariff line or open its market one iota more to Russia; in a WTO accession, it is the acceding country that makes all the concessions.

WCIT has included PNTR for Russia as one of its 2012 policy priorities, and we will be increasing our efforts over the next several months to ensure that the Washington business community and our Congressional delegation understand this issue. 
WCIT Creates Trade Profiles for Washington Congressional Districts

When WCIT interacts with businesses and elected officials throughout the state - promoting the importance of trade and a robust trade policy environment - we often hear the question, "How does trade impact this Congressional district?" And so, we decided to go ahead and answer that question!

WCIT is pleased to share the first iteration of our Congressional District Trade Profiles. These reference guides give members of the Washington Congressional delegation a quick, easy-to-access summary of how trade impacts their districts and their constituents. These factsheets also serve as a resource to a wide variety of interested stakeholders - from journalists and researchers to members of the business community - who want information that helps put trade policy issues in a broader context.

These Congressional District Trade Profiles are based on current Congressional districts, and will be updated in January 2013 to reflect our new Congressional districts - including the newly formed 10th Congressional district! In the meantime, we welcome your input on how these factsheets can be improved, and we hope that you find them useful.  
 WCIT Organizes Coalition In Support Of National Freight Policy

 

In an effort to ensure that a national freight investment policy is included in federal transportation reauthorization legislation, the Washington Council on International Trade sent a letter to U.S. Senate leadership signed by 23 businesses and organizations from across the country.   

  

In particular, the letter calls for
a robust national freight policy that will create jobs, improve overall freight network performance, and promote stronger partnerships between freight-dependent businesses and government by:
  • Establishing a national freight strategic performance plan to assess the performance of our surface transportation system, identify a list of priority freight corridors and gateways, analyze long-term freight and transportation trends, and further the goals of the National Export Initiative;
  • Generating new tools and data to evaluate freight-related projects to determine cost-benefit and other attributes to ensure wise investment of taxpayer dollars; and
  • Creating a national competitive freight infrastructure investment grant program to prioritize cost-beneficial freight projects and invest in our nationwide freight network, including highways, railroads, ports, and intermodal facilities.

Signees of the letter include the Chambers of Seattle, Portland, Everett, Tacoma, Atlanta and Los Angeles; the Ports of Seattle, Tacoma, Vancouver (WA), Portland and Oakland; and national associations such as the National Retail Federation and the Agriculture Transportation Coalition.  

 

The inclusion of a national freight policy in surface transportation legislation is essential to ensuring adequate capacity, reduced congestion and increased throughput at key choke points, and will pay significant dividends to our economy. WCIT will continue to work with Congress to ensure that the United States has the infrastructure in place to maintain its leading position in the global economy. 

This Month in the
State of Trade Blog

  

Parsing the NYT's Apple Outsourcing Article

January 23, 2012 

 

Today, the NYT published a major story on Apple's global supply chain for the iPhone that tries to answer the question that people have been asking over the last twenty or thirty years on trade: "Why are American companies outsourcing jobs, and what - if anything - can be done to change it?"

 

I immediately tweeted the article out as a must-read (those of you following @WashingtonTrade already knew that), but I've been thinking a lot about what's in this article and I wanted to try and get at some conclusions. Here's a go, and I welcome your thoughts and responses in the comment section.

 

Read More 

Invest in Washington! (Everyone else already does)

January 19, 2012 

 

The State of Trade blog doesn't usually touch on the issue of foreign direct investment (FDI). Not that it's not an international trade issue (employing close to 100,000 people in our state through investment from Canada, EU and Asia in Washington companies), but just that it's rarely a policy topic (except when, for example, an EB-5 story pops up).

 

But we had to post something because of this really cool map that the Trade Development Alliance of Greater Seattle made, showing one FDI-funded company in each state legislative district.

 

Read More 

Thoughts on the US. Department of Trade (and a new WCIT contest!)

January 13, 2012 

 

Lots of news coverage and reaction today on President Obama's proposal to merge six agencies into a new "United States Department of Trade" - the U.S. Department of Commerce's core business and trade functions, the Small Business Administration, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Export-Import Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency.

 

And, if you're anything like me, your first reaction was, "Hey, I wonder what WCIT thinks about this proposal? I should race right over to the State of Trade blog and find out!" You know full well that the State of Trade blog hates to disappoint, so we wanted to be sure to have our first blush reaction to the proposal for your immediate gratification.

 

Read More