Washington, DC – Ways and Means Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI) and Trade Subcommittee Ranking Member Kevin Brady (R-TX) made the following statements in reaction to the release of the Administration’s National Export Initiative action plan:

Camp said, “I support the President’s goal of doubling exports in five years, but I’m disappointed that the Administration’s report emphasizes more government spending and government involvement in business decisions.  Instead, we should help business do what it does best – create American jobs – by opening new markets for U.S. exports of goods and services. We doubled exports between 1998 and 2008 precisely through new bilateral, regional and multilateral agreements.  If the President is serious about creating jobs by increasing exports, we must be much more ambitious than what is laid out in this report.  The President has allowed the Colombia and Panama agreements to languish for far too long.  It is time we start work on those agreements, while we continue to prepare the US-South Korea agreement for final approval.”

Brady stated, “The Administration’s plan doesn’t give new market access the priority it deserves.  Merely paying lip service to new and pending trade agreements will limit job creation and further disadvantage American businesses, farmers and ranchers.  There is no goal by when to conclude the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, no plan from the Administration on how it intends to resolve issues related to the U.S.-Colombia and Panama trade agreements, and limited discussion of the U.S.-South Korea Trade Agreement.  We’re simply not on track to double our exports.  Since the president announced this goal, we have not seen consistent export growth, and exports have declined in three of the first seven months of the year.  In the meantime, the EU, Canada and China are racing ahead of us, threatening our ability to double U.S. exports and create more American jobs.”

###