UPS CEO Urges Passage of Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement
August 15 2016 - 5:24PM
Dow Jones News
By Laura Stevens
United Parcel Service Inc. Chief Executive David Abney is
pushing for Congress to pass a new Asian trade agreement by the end
of the year, saying that if the U.S. doesn't act now it will be
left in the dust.
"We have a choice. We can lead the way as a country and embrace
this global economy we live in. Or we can focus more on the
challenge versus the opportunity and have some other country create
jobs for their employees and create jobs for their companies," Mr.
Abney said in an interview.
If the U.S. doesn't take action, he warned, Asian nations will
sign their own trade agreements. "We would much rather see the U.S.
involved in setting the standard for trade with Asia, than to have
China do it," he said. "Other countries aren't sitting by if we
pass up on this opportunity."
UPS and FedEx Corp. executives have become more outspoken on the
benefits of free trade in recent weeks as President Barack Obama's
signature Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement is looking
increasingly unlikely to receive congressional passage either after
the election or under the next administration. Both major parties
back presidential candidates who have said they would spurn it,
although Obama administration officials in recent weeks have argued
that there is still a path forward.
If the agreement doesn't go through, it may mute the prospect of
trade, while it would likely accelerate trade if it is passed, said
Jack Atkins, a transportation analyst with Stephens Inc. Although
it is hard to quantify, it "would benefit both FedEx and UPS."
Mr. Abney said that trade agreements in the past have resulted
in a 20% increase in exports to that country, on average. "Trade is
not the demon that sometimes people think it is," he said, adding
that every 22 international packages that either enter or leave the
U.S. supports a UPS job.
The bill specifically targets improvements for small and midsize
companies that currently struggle with red tape, paperwork, tariffs
and customs, Mr. Abney said. It also focuses on current issues with
e-commerce, as well as setting labor, health and safety and
environmental standards.
"One of the big focuses on e-commerce is how to eliminate a lot
of that red tape and just make it easier for them to ship," he
said. It also addresses intellectual property and other concerns
around that business.
Supporters of the trade agreement say that failing to ratify the
deal would represent a further retreat from U.S. leadership on the
international stage, upending a pillar of Mr. Obama's
foreign-policy pivot toward Asia. Opponents say the deal would tilt
the playing field too heavily toward large multinational
corporations.
FedEx's Michael Ducker, chief of the company's freight division,
echoed Mr. Abney's concern that the deal will leave the U.S. behind
in a recent interview and said that people here need to do a better
job of extolling the benefits. He said that 41 million U.S. jobs
are currently supported by trade.
"There's no perfect trade agreement, but the huge advantages
that come from the trade agreements we have, the benefits from the
jobs market that accrue to small and medium-sized enterprises are
tremendous," he said.
"Countries are going to trade. They are forced to by their
customers. Other countries are not going to stand by and wait for
us," he added.
Nick Timiraos contributed to this article.
Write to Laura Stevens at laura.stevens@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 15, 2016 17:09 ET (21:09 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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