Today, Ambassador Kirk was a guest speaker at Congressman Adam Smith’s annual Ninth District Day. This event brings constituents from the Seattle-Tacoma area to Washington, D.C. for a day of briefings and discussions with top policymakers in the United States government.
Ambassador Kirk outlined the positive impact of trade on Representative Smith’s district, and he described how the Obama Administration’s trade agenda aims to double exports in support of Washington State jobs. For example, in the communities around the Ninth District, there are more than 66,500 jobs in the manufacturing sector that are expected to benefit from the U.S.-South Korea trade agreement. Ambassador Kirk noted that today staff from USTR and Congress began the next step, working together on the draft implementing bill, needed to move forward with this trade agreement.
Ambassador Kirk and Congressman Adam Smith
Overall, in 2009, the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metropolitan area exported $36.9 billion worth of goods in a wide variety of sectors, including: Transportation Equipment ($25.8 billion); Computer and Electronic Products ($2.5 billion); Miscellaneous Manufacturing Products ($1.3 billion); and Processed Foods ($1 billion).
