In a free society, entrepreneurs with a good idea can work hard to make it big in the marketplace. Likewise, consumers can make it or break it for them with the freedom to choose where and how they spend their money. Voters pick which direction they'd like to see their democracy go by giving public office seekers a thumbs up or down at the ballot box. The media serve as a watchdog to keep political leaders on the straight and arrow.
For 225 years, this free exchange of ideas, information, goods and services has helped America emerge as an economic giant and geo-political leader. Here at home, Americans enjoy one of the highest standards of living found on Earth. But America's economic strength and prosperity would not be possible without the help of our friends and trading partners from around the world.
Thanks to strong commercial ties and market-opening partnerships with foreign countries, U.S. workers, farmers and consumers have benefitted tremendously. Free trade creates high-paying jobs in America and results in lower prices and better choices for consumers. U.S. exports support approximately 12 million jobs and in the last 10 years accounted for a quarter of domestic economic growth. And nowhere is foreign trade more important than in Iowa. As farmers hit the fields this spring, they are planting one out of every three acres for export. One in five jobs on the assembly line at a farm implement manufacturer is export dependent. And workers in our state capital's vital financial services and insurance industry benefit from lucrative overseas opportunities.
The United States must continue to work aggressively to forge new market-opening trade and customs agreements that grease the wheels of our economy. Historically, the U.S. has enjoyed a position of leadership and sat in the driver's seat for many global trade negotiations.
Unfortunately, for the last eight years, our executive branch of government has been trying to maneuver trade deals on a flat tire. This handicap has for the most part left us eating the dust as the rest of the world races to enter each other's markets. America's flat tire is attributable to Washington's failure to renew the president's authority to negotiate trade deals and regional commercial agreements with other nations.
Last December, the U.S. House passed trade promotion authority (TPA) legislation. As the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, which bears legislative jurisdiction over trade matters, I helped win passage a week later of a similar bill by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 18-3 out of the committee. Sadly, the momentum to approve TPA has stalled, no thanks to Democratic leadership in the U.S. Senate.
Meanwhile, the world is cruising forward with lucrative trade deals. The U.S. is party to just three of 150 regional free-trade agreements worldwide. This puts American workers and farmers at a distinct disadvantage. Consider a letter I recently received from a third-generation family farmer in Eastern Iowa. He says the enormous tariffs on pork exports - averaging close to 100 percent - stifle his ability to compete for foreign sales. According to him, the only way his
family farm operation will survive over the long haul is for the United States to lower or remove such trade barriers.
The United States cannot afford to languish on the sidelines while the rest of the world swaps deals and brokers trade agreements with each other. We not only miss out on new trade opportunities, we also lose leverage with current trading partners. In one example, Russia's recent decision to ban poultry imports had a detrimental impact on the U.S. meat industry, and Iowa's poultry industry in particular. And the Mexican government's decision in January to slap a
discriminatory tax on soft drinks produced with high fructose corn syrup further underscores the need to restore U.S. leadership at the world trade tables. If the tax, which has been temporarily suspended, is reimposed, our corn refiners could lose up to $244 million this year, and our farmers another $66 million in lost corn sales.
Since Sept. 11, the dangers of keeping a myopic, protectionist view of the world was exposed as terrorists harboring hate attacked America. Opening U.S. commercial ties with poverty-stricken nations not only helps poor countries build up economic strength, it also exports the values of a free and open society. Market-opening trade partnerships help bring stability and prosperity to oppressed people in poor nations. Through the channels of trade, the United States can build peace and prosperity within our own borders and abroad.
Congress ought to act without further delay and renew the trade negotiating authority exercised by the previous five presidents. Remember, the legislative branch would retain the final authority to approve or deny all trade agreements brokered by the executive branch. It's time for Congress to fix the flat and help get America back on the road to prosperity and economic recovery.