Do you remember those times in your life when you were so excited about the opportunities on the horizon you just couldn’t contain your excitement? I remember feeling that way my first week of college, during my college graduation, when I got engaged…and, of course, when I started my job at WCIT.
Well, we WCIT-ers are feeling that way all over again as we look into 2015. This is a year that will likely pack a punch when it comes to trade policy, and we have the opportunity to significantly increase our state’s international competitiveness if we can move the needle on our 2015 policy priorities.
Each year we work with our members to identify our list of top policy priorities – the issues that are most important for the increased international competitiveness of our state. Many of the issues on our just-revealed 2015 policy priority list will be up for vote this year – in Congress, in the State Legislature or in the WTO. This means WCIT and its members can impact everything from Trade Promotion Authority and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, to long-term Export-Import Bank reauthorization and funding packages for freight mobility investment.
The list of policy priorities is as follows:
- Pass Trade Promotion Authority (TPA)
- Pass long-term reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank of the United States
- Complete the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade negotiations
- Conclude major WTO negotiations
- Increase U.S. competitiveness in trade with China and India
- Negotiate a successful Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)
- Increase state and federal investment in freight mobility
- Continue to reform the Harbor Maintenance Tax (HMT)
- Reduce tariffs on footwear and performance outerwear
2015 holds significant promise for improving international trade policy, but only if we work together; WCIT needs your help in 2015 to ensure we have a strong voice that can effectively communicate to our elected officials the message that trade is the single largest driver of our state’s economy. We hope you’ll join us in our critical advocacy efforts on our 2015 policy priorities!
