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September 23: Private meeting on the NEI with Amb. Ron Kirk, US Trade Representative |
Private meeting on the NEI with Amb. Ron Kirk, US Trade Representative, Executive Office of the President
The Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce invited both B. Dean and I. Calderon to be part of a small roundtable of international organizations for a dialogue with Amb. Kirk. During the conversation he reaffirmed the President’s intention of doubling exports by 2015 and spoke about other issues dealing with the NEI. In terms of Florida he said the state had three great things going for it: an excellent NEI representative in Raul Pedraza; an excellent opportunity for increasing exports once the Panama Canal opens and an excellent opportunity in offering agricultural services to Korea once the FTA is completed. He explained that the Korea FTA was going before the other two purely on economic reasons: it has a potential of an immediate $10 billion worth of trade. He hastened to add that there is a sense of urgency to pass the other FTAs pending: Colombia and Panama. He also said that they are trying to help small businesses join the export markets by making loans through the ExIm Bank. Observations from the audience included the following: there is no trade facilitation clause in the NEI which means there will still be problems with goods being held up at borders and with electronic filings; the foreign commercial offices must have more staff to assist exporters and there has to be a strong push for new infrastructure that will impact trade development such as the projects at the Port of Miami.
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