I want to welcome my colleagues to my first hearing as chairman of the Finance Committee and the first of what I expect will be a series of discussions on the U.S. trade agenda. Today, we will review President Bush's nomination of Robert Zoellick to be the United States Trade Representative. But, I view this as the beginning of a process of building a political consensus that will allow the United States to reclaim its leadership role in the international trade arena.
Let me begin by reiterating how important I think the USTR's position is to farmers, firms, and working men and women across the United States. I also want to set out my expectations regarding the conduct of our trade policy and the Finance Committee's role in that process.
There is no doubt that trade is critical to the American economy. Throughout the past decade as much as one-third of all our economic growth has been attributable to exports. Trade has helped keep inflation low and has spurred competition and innovation in the American marketplace. Trade has also created good, high-paying jobs, with export-related employment paying 15 percent above the prevailing wage.
In my home state of Iowa, trade is perhaps even more important than it is to the rest of the country. A significant share of every farm's produce in Iowa is now destined for overseas markets. Firms like Rockwell International in Cedar Rapids manufacture products that are world leaders in aerospace technology and depend increasingly on international markets for a substantial share of their sales. Insurance providers in Des Moines now market their products throughout the world and rely on the expanding overseas market opened by trade agreements for future growth.
I am certain that every senator on the Finance Committee has a similar tale to tell about the importance of trade and investment in their state. The importance of trade to our constituents is one of the primary reasons why the Finance Committee and the Congress created the position of the Special Trade Representative in the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. Congress was motivated by a desire to make sure that U.S. trading interests were not sacrificed for broader foreign policy goals and the American trade agenda would have a strong advocate who was close to the President and could speak for him in international negotiations.
The time when the United States was prepared to sacrifice its trading interests to the broader foreign policy goals of maintaining the NATO alliance or a regional balance of power in Asia is long past. Now, expanding trade and encouraging free markets are properly seen as among the primary instruments of our foreign policy and bulwarks in support of American interests abroad. An aggressive trade policy and the advocacy of American trading interests is consistent with a forward-looking foreign policy, not in conflict with it.
I am pleased that the President has maintained the USTR's cabinet rank. I think that sends an important signal to our trading partners of the role trade policy plays in the President's thinking. But, I think that it was an equally important statement of the relationship the President wants to establish with Congress on trade matters, which brings me to my expectations of how trade policy ought to be conducted.
First and foremost, Congress holds the constitutional responsibility for regulating our foreign commerce. As Chairman of the Finance Committee, I take that responsibility seriously. Unless the President and Congress are on the same page trade-wise, we will not be able to assert the country's interests on the international stage. That means that Congress ? and the Finance Committee in particular ? is a full partner in this enterprise.
Second, in practical terms, that means that trade policy requires a high degree of cooperation between the Congress and the President and an even higher degree of consultation. One of the manifest failures of recent years in trade has been the lack of close and continuing consultation between the President and Congress. Frankly, rebuilding a strong relationship between Congress and the President on trade is the first and most important challenge the USTR will face. That process begins right here with the Finance Committee and our counterparts in the House on the Committee on Ways and Means.
While I expect that you will hear regularly from us, I want you to know that this is a two-way street. We need to hear from you on a regular basis as well. You need to make us aware of the challenges you face in order to ensure that we can play our role in shaping our trade policy response. Many of our foreign friends frequently voice concerns about Congress' role in the trade policy process, but in my experience, Congress generally steps in when it feels the Administration is not attending to business. There is an easy solution to that problem, and that is keeping us informed every step of the way.
Third, as Chair of the Finance Committee, I intend to look to the United States Trade Representative, as the President's principal spokesperson on trade, to be an aggressive advocate for American trading interests. Along with the honor of serving as USTR, however, goes the accountability for achieving measurable results. Our trading partners have not waited while the United States has been forced to sit on the sidelines in recent years. They have forged ahead to create alliances and trading ties that do not include the United States. We need to get back in the game, and the USTR's office is where that must happen.
Take the Free Trade Area of the Americas, for example. The FTAA is the single most important economic and trade initiative we have undertaken with Latin America since President Kennedy launched the Alliance for Progress in 1961. Latin America is our fastest growing regional trading partner. About 46 percent of all the goods manufactured in this country are exported to our own hemisphere. Yet, despite the obvious importance of the FTAA, there is little real progress at the negotiating table.
We will face many other important trade challenges this year -- challenges like launching a new round of WTO trade negotiations, renewing the President's fast-track trade negotiating authority, completing the process of China's accession to the WTO. In each case, the United States Trade Representative will play an indispensable role, both in terms of formulating policy, and making the process work.