WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The National Retail Federation issued the following statement from President and CEO Matthew Shay on today’s Senate passage of Trade Promotion Authority:
“This is a landmark step toward tearing down trade barriers that stand in the way of a truly free and open global economy. TPA will help complete trade agreements that will open new markets for U.S. companies and help retailers provide American families with the products they need at prices they can afford. This will ultimately mean more jobs for American workers and lower prices for American consumers. After weeks of partisanship, it’s refreshing to see Congress finally put good policy ahead of politics.”
TPA is considered essential to completion of two pending free trade agreements that would benefit retailers and other industries, the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. A recent study performed for NRF found that international trade supports 6.9 million jobs in the retail and restaurant industries alone. Of that number, more than half come from countries that would be part of the two agreements, and $6 billion in annual tariffs could be eliminated if the agreements become law.
NRF is the world’s largest retail trade association, representing discount and department stores, home goods and specialty stores, Main Street merchants, grocers, wholesalers, chain restaurants and Internet retailers from the United States and more than 45 countries. Retail is the nation’s largest private sector employer, supporting one in four U.S. jobs – 42 million working Americans. Contributing $2.6 trillion to annual GDP, retail is a daily barometer for the nation’s economy. NRF’s This is Retail campaign highlights the industry’s opportunities for life-long careers, how retailers strengthen communities, and the critical role that retail plays in driving innovation. NRF.com