HR0011 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0011 LRB099 03517 GRL 23525 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, For almost 40 years, the United States Congress has enacted Trade Promotion Authority laws to guide the pursuit of free trade agreements that support job growth for the United States, eliminate barriers to United States exports, create a transparent trade environment, and set rules to ensure fair trading terms for United States companies, farmers, and workers; and

WHEREAS, As of January 1, 2014, the United States has 14 free trade agreements with 20 partner countries, including: Australia, Bahrain, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, Korea, Morocco, Canada, Mexico, Oman, Panama, Peru, and Singapore; and

WHEREAS, In 2012, the United States' current free trade agreements supported nearly 46% of the country's merchandise exports totaling approximately $718 billion, as well as supporting approximately 3.2 million jobs nationally in 2013; and

WHEREAS, In 2013, the United States' current free trade agreements benefited the State of Illinois by accounting for nearly 54% of goods exported from the State, totaling approximately $35.7 billion; goods exported from Illinois supported approximately 339,000 United States' jobs; and

WHEREAS, The United States began negotiations on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) free trade agreement with the European Union in July of 2013; and

WHEREAS, The European Union was the United States' largest export market in 2012 and has 28 member countries including: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom; and

WHEREAS, In 2011, the United States and the European Union maintained approximately $3.7 trillion in investment in each other's economies; and

WHEREAS, The United States and the European Union together generate approximately half of the world's gross domestic product output; and

WHEREAS, The goals of the T-TIP agreement include a plan to: expand the European Union markets for trade with the United States, thereby strengthening the world's largest investment relationship; eliminate all tariffs; promote transparency and cooperation in maintaining global concerns, such as health, safety, and environmental protections; develop rules to address localized discriminatory practices that create non-tariff barriers to trade; and promote the global competitiveness of small and medium sized business; and

WHEREAS, The United States currently endures tariff and non-tariff barriers on trade with the European Union; however, eliminating tariffs through T-TIP will put the United States' industrial, technological, scientific, chemical, plastic, textile, apparel, and agricultural products on a level trading field with the European Union's other free trade agreement partners; and

WHEREAS, Illinois' largest merchandise export categories are machinery, transportation equipment, chemicals, computer and electronic products, and petroleum and coal products; and

WHEREAS, Illinois' top industrial goods exported to the European Union include machinery products with an approximate tariff rate of 9.7%, chemicals with an approximate tariff rate of 6.5%, and automotive products with an approximate tariff rate of 22%; and

WHEREAS, The elimination of tariffs through T-TIP will allow Illinois to gain greater market access for all goods exported to the European Union and its trade partners by enhancing the State's competitiveness in the global marketplace; and

WHEREAS, The T-TIP agreement will benefit Illinois by creating jobs, providing higher levels of protections for workers by enforcing internationally recognized labor rights, and improving the sustainability of the farming industry as well as small and mid-sized companies, while strengthening Illinois' economy overall; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we ask Congress to pass Trade Promotion Authority and urge the United States Trade Representative to conclude the negotiations and recommend ratification of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, also known as T-TIP, to the President of the United States and the United States Senate with all deliberate speed; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to the President of the United States, the United States Trade Representative, the United States Senate Majority Leader, and the United States Senate Minority Leader.