We recently came across an article from Mark Wallace, UPS senior vice president of global engineering and sustainability, called “The Urgency of Trade and TPP.” Adopted from a speech at the June 2016 Global Supply Chain Summit in Washington, DC, the full article is worth reading. What struck us most was the call to action:
TPP is approaching the finish line, but there are still obstacles in its path. As we near the finish, it’s critical that we avoid two big mistakes.
One would be to assume the logic that free-trade advocates see in the rightness of global trade will win the day.
The other potential mistake is to be afraid to step up to the debate. We have to be visible. We have to be vocal. We have to argue our case in every forum available to us.
The stakes are rising, the misinformation is growing and the clock is ticking. It’s time to push TPP over the finish line.
The message is simple but powerful: be visible, be vocal, and don’t be afraid to enter the debate.
The stakes for importers are clear: billions of dollars in annual tariff payments that could be eliminated if Congress passes the TPP.
The costs of inaction are much higher than annual costs: if Congress fails to pass the TPP this year, another opportunity may not arise for several years (if at all).
Yet we cannot assume that the rightness of those arguments will win the day. So we offer the companies that would benefit from TPP a slightly tweaked version of the call to action:
Be visible, be vocal, and enter the debate here.