United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act

Floor Speech

Mr. BRADY of Texas. Madam Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Camp and Ranking Member Sandy Levin for working together with this President, with the Senate, and with the auto companies and autoworkers to improve this agreement to ensure we sell more American cars into Korea. This is why, among many other reasons, this agreement has so much strong bipartisan support.

As I've already said tonight, I'm excited to be here. This trade agreement improves as well as strengthens our security relationship with one of our strongest allies. This is the most commercially significant trade agreement the United States has signed since I've been in Congress.

The delay in implementing the sales agreement has been felt across America. If our exporters can't compete because of high tariffs or nontariff barriers, they can't grow their businesses and put Americans back to work. That's why expanding opportunities for U.S. exporters and finding new customers is so critical to our workers, so critical to putting our economy back on the right track and creating good-paying American jobs right here in the United States.

For example, this agreement turns one-way trade into the United States into two-way trade. The average South

Korean tariff on our exporters is more than four times what it is when South Korea exports to us. This agreement addresses that imbalance.

The job-creating benefits of this agreement will be enjoyed broadly among manufacturers, agriculture, service, and technology companies. The American Farm Bureau estimates that U.S. farm exports will increase by more than $1.8 billion to this market. Moreover, 90 percent of American companies selling to South Korea are small and medium-sized enterprises in our neighborhoods and in our communities, and it will lead to an additional $3 billion in exports for these small businesses.

It's no longer enough to buy American; we have to sell American. And this ``Sell American'' agreement is essential if we are to get our economy back on track. I strongly support it.

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