This morning, Ambassador Kirk addressed the American Apparel & Footwear Association Annual Executive Summit. He spoke about creating and supporting American jobs through international trade.
Read an excerpt of his remarks below, and the full remarks here.
"Today, I want to talk about how the Obama Administration is supporting job-creating trade opportunities here at home. And we are advancing American interests, including fundamental interests of the apparel industry, in the international trade arena.
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The ultimate objective of all our efforts can be summed up in one word: jobs.
When companies like yours are able to succeed in the marketplace that supports job creation here at home.
When a shipment of your products arrives in America, an army of workers goes into motion. There's the port worker who unloads your container, the truck driver that carries it to a distribution center or a store, the marketing executive that trumpets its arrival, and the retailer who rings up each individual sale. And that's just domestic sales - every foreign sale you make supports American designers, customs and logistics professionals, and financing and transportation experts.
So your success, and the success of every globally-engaged American company, is critical to the overall economic recovery.
USTR is working to encourage that success with a smart trade policy that creates opportunities wherever possible. And our work won't be finished until every American who wants a job can find one."
