TPP has benefits for R.I. businesses

A TOTAL OF $896 million in goods were exported from Rhode Island to TPP countries in 2014, including $62 million to Japan, $21 million to Malaysia and $4 million to Vietnam. / COURTESY U.S. COMMERCIAL SERVICE
A TOTAL OF $896 million in goods were exported from Rhode Island to TPP countries in 2014, including $62 million to Japan, $21 million to Malaysia and $4 million to Vietnam. / COURTESY U.S. COMMERCIAL SERVICE

(Updated, 1:45 p.m., Nov. 14)
PROVIDENCE – The recently completed Trans-Pacific Partnership has benefits for Rhode Island businesses and communities as it will eliminate all foreign import taxes on industrial and consumer goods, according to the U.S. Commercial Service.

A news release from the Commercial Service, the trade promotion arm of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Intern.ational Trade Administration, said that $896 million in goods were exported from Rhode Island to TPP countries in 2014 (the agreement has not yet been signed into law in the United States). That amount includes $62 million to Japan, $21 million to Malaysia and $4 million to Vietnam, countries that the U.S. does not currently have trade agreements with. Other countries that are part of the TPP agreement that do not currently have trade agreements with the U.S. are Brunei and New Zealand.

It said more than 37 percent of Rhode Island’s exports went to TPP partners last year – those partners include Australia, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Peru and Singapore.
The release said that once the TPP is implemented, it will “strengthen the hand of Rhode Island companies by lowering the costs of doing business in these markets and ensuring fair treatment for Rhode Island businesses.”

“The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a transformational agreement that will benefit businesses and workers across the country,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker said in a statement.

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“By eliminating more than 18,000 tariffs on ‘Made-in-America’ products sold overseas, the TPP will make it possible for more of our high-quality goods and services to reach some of the world’s fastest-growing markets. In addition, the TPP reflects the highest standards on labor, the environment and the digital economy ever to be included in a trade agreement, which will ensure that our businesses and workers can compete on a level playing field globally,” she said.

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