The Trans-Pacific Partnership Would Expand Market Access
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) offers tremendous opportunities for U.S. exporters. TPP members comprise a population of roughly 800 million and these dynamic economies generate nearly 40 percent of global GDP. The United States already has strong trade and investment ties to this region; we exported $697.8 billion in goods to all TPP markets in 2013, or about 44 percent of total U.S. exports, and are seeking through TPP to further deepen our economic relations.
Maryland Depends on World Markets
Maryland’s export shipments of merchandise in 2013 totaled $11.8 billion. Maryland exported $3 billion annually in goods to all TPP markets (2011-2013 average). Maryland’s goods exports to all TPP markets increased by 12 percent from 2011 to 2013. During this period, 29 percent of Maryland’s total goods exports went to the TPP region. The top three product categories exported to TPP-member economies in 2013 were chemical manufactures, computers and electronic products, and machinery manufactures.
Goods Exports Support Jobs for Maryland Workers: Jobs supported by Maryland’s goods exports were about 48,000 in 2011 (latest available data) according to a USTR estimate based on U.S. Department of Commerce data. In 2011 (latest available data), 13.2 percent of all manufacturing workers in Maryland depended on exports for their jobs. Additional jobs also are supported by Maryland’s exports of services, although there are no available data on this.
Goods Exports Sustain Thousands of Maryland Businesses: A total of 7,386 companies exported goods from Maryland locations in 2012 (latest available data). Of those, 6,529 (88.4 percent) were small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with fewer than 500 employees.
Maryland Small and Medium-sized Firms Will Benefit From Trans-Pacific Partnership FTA Provisions
Small- and medium-sized firms generated over one-quarter or 29.1 percent of Maryland’s total exports of merchandise in 2012 (latest available data). Small- and medium-sized firms benefit from the tariff-elimination provisions of free trade agreements, as well as many of the other commitments in the agreement. Trade facilitation, for example, is vital to small- and medium-sized firms, as is enforcement of their intellectual property rights, streamlining of regulatory issues, and other commitments.
Note: The Asia Pacific Region is defined as APEC countries; TPP partner countries are Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.
Sources: U.S. Department of Commerce; U.S. Trade Representative.
