LA Business Leader Urges Passage of Free Trade Agreements to Boost Small Business

Oct. 11, 2011 - PRLog -- Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber of Commerce Chairman Gene Hale, appointed by President Barack Obama as a private-sector member of the President’s Export Council, issued the following statement today on this week’s expected Congressional consideration of U.S. free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama:

“The ratification of these agreements will be a substantial boost for the economy, small businesses and will create jobs in many local economies,” said Gene Hale, chair of the Small and Medium-Sized Business Engagement Subcommittee of the President’s Export Council. “It’s imperative that the agreements be approved as soon as possible.”

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, large companies make up about 4 percent of U.S. exports.  This means that 96 percent of exporters are small businesses.

The President’s Export Council is the principal national advisory committee on international trade. The council advises the President of government policies and programs that affect U.S. trade performance; promotes export expansion; and provides a forum for discussing and resolving trade-related problems among the business, industrial, agricultural, labor, and government sectors. Hale is CEO and President of G&C Equipment Corp., one of the nation’s largest black-owned businesses.

The trade deals – which will phase out tariffs and other barriers to U.S. exports - cleared the U.S. House Ways and Means last week and are expected to be considered in the full House and Senate this week. The Administration estimates the agreements will boost U.S. exports by about $13 billion a year and help create tens of thousands of jobs.