Newly introduced legislation to expand the President's authority in trade negotiations will be a boost to the Houston region's economy, according to several Southeast Texas
business leaders.
"The Trade Promotion Authority (TPA)
bill introduced in the House
two weeks ago will allow the administration to fairly negotiate trade
agreements and other related issues with foreign countries, especially
multilateral treaties," said Port of Houston Authority Chairman James
T. Edmonds.
Implementation of TPA is expected to spur progress on the Free
Trade of the Americas Agreement, opening markets in Central and South
America to U.S. goods and services. Houston's current number-one
trading partner is Mexico, with $5.5 billion in annual trade volume,
and two South American countries are number-two and number-four,
Venezuela ($3.2 billion) and Brazil ($2.1 billion).
TPA approval will benefit Texas' farmers and growers, according to
Texas Farm Bureau President Steve Pringle. "Exports are the lifeblood
of American agriculture," he said. "We may lose our existing share of
foreign markets to other competitors if we are not an active player in
new trade agreements."