U.S. Chamber: Trade agreements will create more jobs

Passing pending free trade agreements will help create millions of jobs to aid the economic recovery and spur long-term development, according to the president of the U.S. Chamber of Congress.

This nation's "greatest priority is creating jobs," said Tom Donohue at the National Press Club on Friday. 

"When it comes to trade agreements, America is being locked out and left behind," he said. "It's time to pass the pending agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea. With nearly one in 10 Americans looking for work, it is irresponsible to delay any further. If we don't act, not only will we miss out on opportunities to create new jobs, we will lose existing jobs as well."

The U.S. has signed FTA's with Colombia, Panama and South Korea but Congress hasn't passed legislation. The Obama administration has said it would like to clear the three agreements this year. But Congress and the White House have hesitated until outside issues are resolved with the countries, including human rights records and the treatment of organized labor.

More than 18 million jobs depend on the nation's free trade agreements, and 5.4 million of those were created by those agreements, according to a study released today by the Chamber. The study, "Opening Markets, Creating Jobs," examined the effects in 2008 of trade agreements with 14 countries. The U.S. has trade agreements with 17 countries but three were left out of the study because they had been recently completed.

"I defy anyone to name another budget-neutral government initiative that has generated anything like this number of jobs," Donohue said. 

He urged the Obama administration, business community and labor unions to work together and double U.S. exports within the next five years, then double them again by 2020. 

To see the list of countries that the U.S. has FTA's with, click here.