For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 10, 2004
Opening New Markets for America's Workers
Presidential Action
- In Cleveland, Ohio the President addressed the Women's
Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century Forum where he discussed his
policies to strengthen the economy and create jobs in America by:
- Opening foreign markets to U.S. products and services and providing a level playing field for American workers;
- Creating the conditions for American companies and workers to
compete and outperform the world;
- Making sure that America's workers have the best skills and
education in the world.
- President Bush's top economic priority is the creation of more jobs
for American workers. Free and fair trade will help create more
higher-paying jobs for American workers by opening new markets for
American products and services, bringing lower prices and more choices
to American consumers, and attracting foreign companies to invest and
hire in the United States.
- America is economically stronger when we participate fully in the
worldwide economy. When 95% of the potential customers for American
products live outside the U.S., America must reject policies that would
result in economic isolationism.
- For example, in Ohio thousands of workers' jobs depend on trade
agreements that enable Ohio-made products to compete in markets around the world. Since the enactment of NAFTA in 1994, Ohio's exports to
Mexico have tripled, and last year exports totaled more than two
billion dollars. Since the end of 2000, Ohio's exports increased more
than any state in the country. Exports are vital to our Nation's
economic strength and in 2004, America is selling computer chips to
Japan, producing BMWs for export to Germany, and exporting California
wine to France.
Background -- Job Creation for America's Workers
- Opening markets to U.S. products and services is an important part
of the President's six-point plan for sustaining America's economic
recovery and creating new jobs for American workers. According to
government statistics:
- U.S. exports accounted for about 25 percent of U.S. economic growth during the 1990s and supported an estimated 12 million jobs.
- Jobs in exporting plants pay wages that average up to 18 percent
more than jobs in non-exporting plants.
- Approximately one out of every five factory jobs in the U.S.
directly depends on trade.
- American farmers export one in three acres of their crops, and
exports generate nearly 25 percent of farmers' gross cash sales.
- America's dynamic high-tech sector depends on exports. In 2003,
exports of advanced technology products totaled $180 billion.
- The President believes American workers are the best in the world,
and when given a level playing field they can compete against
workers anywhere. The President has acted aggressively to negotiate
trade agreements that slash foreign tariffs and remove the barriers
that disadvantage American workers and exporters.
- To help American businesses and workers continue to outperform the world, the President has acted to make American companies more
competitive. Tax cuts were vital to creating an environment of growth
and innovation, and they must be made permanent. The President has
also proposed reducing unnecessary regulations; making health care
costs more affordable; reforming the legal system to cut down on
frivolous lawsuits, and enacting a national energy policy that ensures
an affordable supply of energy and reduces our dependence on foreign
oil.
- Free and fair trade helps create jobs at home by opening foreign
markets to American exports -- as well as by encouraging foreign
companies to set up operations in the United States. Foreign-owned
firms directly employ more than 6.4 million workers in the U.S. -- jobs
that might otherwise go to foreign workers -- and that does not include
the millions of people who work at companies that supply parts and
material to foreign-owned firms. Examples include:
- Honda employs about 16,000 Ohioans and 24,000 American workers nationwide.
- The BMW plant in Greer, South Carolina employs 4,700 American
workers.
- Toyota's new $800 million plant in San Antonio, Texas
will create approximately 2,000 new jobs, bringing its total number
of employees in the U.S. to over 35,000.
- Nestle employs 43,000 Americans nationwide.
- Free and fair trade also helps to lower prices and increase choices
for American consumers. Over the past decade, NAFTA and the Uruguay
Round agreements have raised the standards of living of the average
American family of four by up to $2,000 a year, according to the Office
of the U.S. Trade Representative. A University of Michigan study
shows lowering global trade barriers on all products and services by
even one-third could boost the U.S. economy by $177 billion, thereby
raising living standards for the average family by $2,500 annually.
- As we recognize the benefits of free and fair trade, we also
recognize that any job loss from economic change?whether arising
from trade or technology or increased productivity?is painful for some
workers and their families. Manufacturing output, for instance,
increased six-fold between 1950 and 2000 -- yet, because of high
productivity and new technologies, about the same number of workers are
employed in manufacturing. Many of the new jobs being created require
new skills, and we must help these workers deal with dislocation and
acquire the skills necessary to find good-paying jobs. The President's
FY 2005 budget commits significant resources to help displaced workers
find jobs.
- Job training and employment assistance: The President's FY 2005 budget proposes $23 billion for job training and employment
assistance.
- Jobs for the 21st Century: The President has proposed more than $500 million for his Jobs for the 21st Century initiative to help
prepare U.S. workers to take advantage of the better skilled,
higher-paying jobs of the future. This includes $250 million in
proposed funding targeted to community colleges to train workers for
industries that are creating the most new jobs, as well as funding for
new secondary education programs to better prepare high school students
for the jobs of the 21st Century.
- Trade Adjustment Assistance: In 2002, President Bush signed a law expanding the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, which will provide $1.1 billion in FY 2005 for training and cash benefits for workers
dislocated by increased imports or a shift of production to certain
foreign countries. Workers are also eligible to receive a Health
Coverage Tax Credit covering 65% of the premium for qualified health
insurance. Workers over 50 may be entitled to Alternative Trade
Adjustment Assistance, which pays half the difference between their old
wage and the wage they are receiving at new employment for up to two
years and up to $10,000.
- A pro-growth economic agenda, a strong education system, and help for American workers to gain the skills to secure good jobs are the
right ways to respond to the challenges of our growing and changing
economy. A retreat to economic isolationism is the wrong course to
take. Isolationist policies would endanger our economic recovery, cost
U.S. workers jobs, lead to higher prices for American consumers, and
put U.S. workers and companies at a competitive disadvantage.
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