In his annual State of American Business address, the United States Chamber of Commerce (USCC) President and Chief Executive Officer, Thomas J. Donohue, was cautiously optimistic about the state of the economy and outlined the elements of a plan, including tax reform and an increase in foreign trade, to increase employment.
“We begin 2011 in a lot better shape than we found ourselves last year. The state of American business is improving,” Donohue said, pointing to expectations that the gross domestic product will grow by 3.2% this year. In his opinion, “the new tax package could give growth and jobs a significant boost - which is precisely why the USCC worked hard to renew all of the 2001 and 2003 (Bush) tax cuts.”
However, he also pointed out that “we face an array of potentially serious risks that at any moment could send us back in the wrong direction,” and, amongst the immediate priorities which the USCC will now address, he looked for a significant expansion in foreign trade.
The USCC will work to pass the country’s pending free trade agreements (FTAs). “Other countries are signing trade deals, forming alliances to share natural resources, and rapidly developing their own domestic energy supplies,” he considered. “In many respects, America is not keeping up.”
A year ago, he continued, the USCC had released a study which warned that the US would lose more than 380,000 existing jobs and USD40bn in export sales if it failed to implement the pending FTAs. “The administration must work urgently with the new Congress to approve the FTAs with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama,” while the USCC also “strongly supports the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations to open markets and expand trade with some of the fastest growing Asian economies - and if Japan can make the necessary reform commitments to join the negotiations, so much the better.”
In addition, the USCC will push for a transatlantic zero-tariff agreement with the European Union. A key objective will be the elimination of all tariffs on goods in the USD600bn transatlantic trading relationship. An independent study commissioned by the USCC has found that doing this would increase transatlantic trade by more than USD100bn between now and 2015.
Donahue added that “business, like all Americans, must also do its part to help address another defining challenge of our times - the growth of government spending and, with it, the explosion of government debt. To control deficits, we must first put unemployed Americans back to work so that they are paying taxes instead of collecting benefits. But Congress and the administration must also move swiftly to reduce spending.”
However, he concluded, “we also need to make the US more attractive to global investors, talent, and tourists. The USCC will work to reform our tax code and lower the corporate tax rate, which is the second highest in the developed world.”
“We begin 2011 in a lot better shape than we found ourselves last year. The state of American business is improving,” Donohue said, pointing to expectations that the gross domestic product will grow by 3.2% this year. In his opinion, “the new tax package could give growth and jobs a significant boost - which is precisely why the USCC worked hard to renew all of the 2001 and 2003 (Bush) tax cuts.”
However, he also pointed out that “we face an array of potentially serious risks that at any moment could send us back in the wrong direction,” and, amongst the immediate priorities which the USCC will now address, he looked for a significant expansion in foreign trade.
The USCC will work to pass the country’s pending free trade agreements (FTAs). “Other countries are signing trade deals, forming alliances to share natural resources, and rapidly developing their own domestic energy supplies,” he considered. “In many respects, America is not keeping up.”
A year ago, he continued, the USCC had released a study which warned that the US would lose more than 380,000 existing jobs and USD40bn in export sales if it failed to implement the pending FTAs. “The administration must work urgently with the new Congress to approve the FTAs with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama,” while the USCC also “strongly supports the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations to open markets and expand trade with some of the fastest growing Asian economies - and if Japan can make the necessary reform commitments to join the negotiations, so much the better.”
In addition, the USCC will push for a transatlantic zero-tariff agreement with the European Union. A key objective will be the elimination of all tariffs on goods in the USD600bn transatlantic trading relationship. An independent study commissioned by the USCC has found that doing this would increase transatlantic trade by more than USD100bn between now and 2015.
Donahue added that “business, like all Americans, must also do its part to help address another defining challenge of our times - the growth of government spending and, with it, the explosion of government debt. To control deficits, we must first put unemployed Americans back to work so that they are paying taxes instead of collecting benefits. But Congress and the administration must also move swiftly to reduce spending.”
However, he concluded, “we also need to make the US more attractive to global investors, talent, and tourists. The USCC will work to reform our tax code and lower the corporate tax rate, which is the second highest in the developed world.”
