Global trade key to US rebound, says UPS chief

Calling free trade key to robust US and global recoveries, United Parcel Service (UPS) chief executive Scott Davis said that more must be done to "defeat the tyranny of protectionism" and eliminate trade barriers.

Davis, speaking at the Americas Competitiveness Forum taking place in Atlanta, offered a number of prescriptions for the US in particular, reported Dow Jones Newswires.

He said so-called "Buy America" provisions included in the 2009 federal economic stimulus package should be abolished, and he also said a dispute regarding the ability of Mexican trucks to enter the US must be quickly resolved.

"I'll be blunt," Davis said, according to a copy of his speech. "There is little or no merit to the argument that Mexican trucks are unsafe."

Meanwhile, he said Congress should approve trade deals that the US already has negotiated with South Korea, Colombia and Panama, and he noted that he was "clearly disappointed" in the lack of progress on a new pact with South Korea last week.

"In the halls of Congress, compelling arguments for trade get overwhelmed by noisy and heated attacks on globalisation," said Davis, a member of the President's Export Council, an advisory group.

Still, he said he's hopeful "open season on trade is over" now that the recent mid-term elections have passed, "and free traders can safely come out of hiding."

He also said he thinks the US can achieve the Export Council's stated goal of doubling US exports over the next five years, from about US$1.6 trillion to more than $3 trillion in 2015.

"But it won't be easy," he said.

The benefits to the US of free trade and exports are numerous, Davis said, with 95 percent of consumers located outside the country. He cited US Chamber of Commerce statistics indicating that simply failing to approve the trade deals already negotiated will cost about 380,000 US jobs, at a time of high unemployment.

"Now, I freely admit UPS has an interest here" as a major conduit of global trade, Davis said. "But in view of its many benefits, I don't think the notion that trade is a good and valuable thing should be controversial."

He called a boost in exports the quickest route to economic recovery.

"But trade-friendly rules have to be in place" both in the US and elsewhere, Davis said. "The bottom line is this: When global commerce suffers, we all suffer and we all end up paying a price."
(Source:www.cargonewsasia.com)