AEM member company Stanley Black & Decker shared the industry’s perspective on the importance of supply chain resiliency and the importance of manufacturing in the United States during a recent hearing by the Senate Finance Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness.
During his opening remarks, U.S. Senator and Subcommittee Chairman Tom Carper (D-Del.) said, “With a new Administration and new leadership at the helm of USTR, we have a key opportunity to work on a bipartisan basis to put the United States in a far better position on the global stage. The Asia-Pacific is home to some of the fastest-growing, largest, and most dynamic economies in the world. With sixty percent of the world’s population and more than one third of the world’s gross domestic product, Asia is a region of the world we simply cannot ignore. Further, and since the U.S. left the TPP, our trading partners have not been idle.”
Echoing these remarks during his testimony, Stanley Black & Decker President and Chief Financial Officer Donald Allan Jr. said, “We believe a strategic U.S. trade agenda is critical to ensuring a robust and inclusive economic recovery. The agenda should support job creation in the U.S., expand access to new markets, and ensure global competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing. The United States should remain engaged in the Asia-Pacific region to enhance regional partnerships, support strategic supply chains across those partnerships, and promote high standards in trade.” In addition to emphasizing the importance of building and maintaining strategic partnerships in the Asia-Pacific region, Mr. Allan further echoed the perspectives of the equipment manufacturing industry by outlining the importance of rolling back harmful tariffs that have effectively become a tax on U.S. manufacturing.
Mr. Allan’s comments before the Subcommittee made a strong case for how a multilateral approach to trade policy in the Asia-Pacific will not only grow equipment manufacturing in the United States and create more family-sustaining jobs, but also strengthen global supply chains and open up new markets for U.S. companies.
As the Biden-Harris administration and Congress review current U.S. trade policy in the Asia-Pacific region, AEM will continue to engage with both Democrats and Republicans to push for the removal of harmful tariffs and a robust reengagement with our trading partners in the region.
To learn more, please contact AEM’s Alex Russ at aruss@aem.org or (202) 898-9006.
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