Full Text of HR0011 99th General Assembly
HR0011 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, For almost 40 years, the United States Congress | 3 | | has enacted Trade Promotion Authority laws to guide the pursuit | 4 | | of free trade agreements that support job growth for the United | 5 | | States, eliminate barriers to United States exports, create a | 6 | | transparent trade environment, and set rules to ensure fair | 7 | | trading terms for United States companies, farmers, and | 8 | | workers; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, As of January 1, 2014, the United States has 14 | 10 | | free trade agreements with 20 partner countries, including: | 11 | | Australia, Bahrain, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Dominican | 12 | | Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Israel, | 13 | | Jordan, Korea, Morocco, Canada, Mexico, Oman, Panama, Peru, and | 14 | | Singapore; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, In 2012, the United States' current free trade | 16 | | agreements supported nearly 46% of the country's merchandise | 17 | | exports totaling approximately $718 billion, as well as | 18 | | supporting approximately 3.2 million jobs nationally in 2013; | 19 | | and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, In 2013, the United States' current free trade | 21 | | agreements benefited the State of Illinois by accounting for | 22 | | nearly 54% of goods exported from the State, totaling |
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| 1 | | approximately $35.7 billion; goods exported from Illinois | 2 | | supported approximately 339,000 United States' jobs; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, The United States began negotiations on a | 4 | | Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) free | 5 | | trade agreement with the European Union in July of 2013; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, The European Union was the United States' largest | 7 | | export market in 2012 and has 28 member countries including: | 8 | | Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, | 9 | | Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, | 10 | | Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, | 11 | | Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, | 12 | | Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, In 2011, the United States and the European Union | 14 | | maintained approximately $3.7 trillion in investment in each | 15 | | other's economies; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, The United States and the European Union together | 17 | | generate approximately half of the world's gross domestic | 18 | | product output; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, The goals of the T-TIP agreement include a plan | 20 | | to: expand the European Union markets for trade with the United | 21 | | States, thereby strengthening the world's largest investment |
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| 1 | | relationship; eliminate all tariffs; promote transparency and | 2 | | cooperation in maintaining global concerns, such as health, | 3 | | safety, and environmental protections; develop rules to | 4 | | address localized discriminatory practices that create | 5 | | non-tariff barriers to trade; and promote the global | 6 | | competitiveness of small and medium sized business; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, The United States currently endures tariff and | 8 | | non-tariff barriers on trade with the European Union; however, | 9 | | eliminating tariffs through T-TIP will put the United States' | 10 | | industrial, technological, scientific, chemical, plastic, | 11 | | textile, apparel, and agricultural products on a level trading | 12 | | field with the European Union's other free trade agreement | 13 | | partners; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, Illinois' largest merchandise export categories | 15 | | are machinery, transportation equipment, chemicals, computer | 16 | | and electronic products, and petroleum and coal products; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, Illinois' top industrial goods exported to the | 18 | | European Union include machinery products with an approximate | 19 | | tariff rate of 9.7%, chemicals with an approximate tariff rate | 20 | | of 6.5%, and automotive products with an approximate tariff | 21 | | rate of 22%; and
| 22 | | WHEREAS, The elimination of tariffs through T-TIP will |
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| 1 | | allow Illinois to gain greater market access for all goods | 2 | | exported to the European Union and its trade partners by | 3 | | enhancing the State's competitiveness in the global | 4 | | marketplace; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, The T-TIP agreement will benefit Illinois by | 6 | | creating jobs, providing higher levels of protections for | 7 | | workers by enforcing internationally recognized labor rights, | 8 | | and improving the sustainability of the farming industry as | 9 | | well as small and mid-sized companies, while strengthening | 10 | | Illinois' economy overall; therefore, be it
| 11 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 12 | | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 13 | | ask Congress to pass Trade Promotion Authority and urge the | 14 | | United States Trade Representative to conclude the | 15 | | negotiations and recommend ratification of the Transatlantic | 16 | | Trade and Investment Partnership, also known as T-TIP, to the | 17 | | President of the United States and the United States Senate | 18 | | with all deliberate speed; and be it further | 19 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 20 | | presented to the President of the United States, the United | 21 | | States Trade Representative, the United States Senate Majority | 22 | | Leader, and the United States Senate Minority Leader.
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