{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://paulsen.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=105&itemid=1213", "Trade pact with E.U. would benefit Minnesota", "2013-04-22", "2013", "2013-04", "Republican", "House", "MN", "Erik Paulsen", "P000594", "paulsen.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Trade pact with E.U. would benefit Minnesota \r\n \r\n\tLowering tariffs, streamlining regulations means more jobs. \r\n\r\n\tBy Star Tribune Editorial Board\r\n\r\n\tThe Obama administration may have signaled a strategic \u201cpivot\u201d to East Asia, but it hasn\u2019t forgotten that the world\u2019s largest economic relationship is between the United States and the European Union.\r\n\r\n\tSo it was welcome news when President Obama announced in his State of the Union Address in February that the administration would begin negotiations on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the E.U.\r\n\r\n\tAs with previous free trade agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and bilateral pacts with South Korea and other countries, an eventual agreement would seek to eliminate, reduce or prevent tariffs and quotas on goods and services, as well as make regulations more compatible between the United States and the 27 nations that comprise the E.U.\r\n\r\n\tU.S.-E.U. trade is already robust. According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, about $2.7 billion in goods a day flows between U.S.-E.U. borders. In 2012, the United States shipped $265.1 billion worth of goods to E.U. nations. While that was down 1.2 percent from 2011, it represented a 57 percent increase since 2000.\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\tTHE UPSIDE\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\u201cThe reality is with so many different countries involved in bilateral trade negotiations, having the E.U. and the United States work together on this transatlantic opportunity is really going to bring other trade agreements up to the 21st century, as well as leverage the opportunity for countries like China that haven\u2019t been playing by similar rules to make sure that their standards are brought up to ours. And I think that is going to help the entire world economy.\u201d\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t-Rep. ERIK PAULSEN, R-Minn.\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\u00a0\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\r\n\tU.S. exports of private commercial services were valued at $194 billion in 2012 \u2014 a 2.8 percent increase from 2011 and a 108 percent spike since 2000.\r\n\r\n\tU.S. agricultural exports totaled $9.9 billion in 2012 and, together, U.S. and E.U. investors owned about $3.7 trillion in direct investment in each other\u2019s economies.\r\n\r\n\tWhile the tariffs between the United States and the E.U. are already relatively low, the scale of the trade relationships suggests that even small adjustments could mean big economic gains. Even more upside exists if standards are aligned between the two trading partners.\r\n\r\n\tAnd the scope of the world\u2019s largest trading relationship means that an agreement might kick-start the stalled \u201cDoha Round\u201d of World Trade Organization talks. Already, many countries are rushing to fill the trade vacuum with bilateral pacts. But a U.S.-E.U. pact could offer \u201ca de-facto rule-setting for the rest of the world,\u201d said Joshua Meltzer, a fellow in global economy and development at the Brookings Institution.\r\n\r\n\tThat\u2019s not just a U.S.-centric view, according to Ambassador Jukka Pietikainen, the consul general of Finland in New York. Pietikainen, Minnesota Rep. Erik Paulsen and others were in Minneapolis on Monday for a trade discussion organized by the Finnish American Chamber of Commerce Minnesota and the Minnesota International Center.\r\n\r\n\t\u201cWe need to set the standards, and since the WTO negotiations have stalled completely maybe this would give a boost for those negotiations \u2026 and then maybe Europe and the United States would have an upper hand on the setting of global standards,\u201d Pietikainen told an editorial writer.\r\n\r\n\tCloser to home, the trade stakes are high for Minnesota, too.\r\n\r\n\tState exports totaled $5.13 billion in the fourth quarter of 2012, according to the state Department of Employment and Economic Development. The E.U., along with North America, led the way with 6 percent growth. Overall, the E.U. is Minnesota\u2019s third-largest export market, accounting for 20 percent of all sales.\r\n\r\n\tMinnesota\u2019s manufacturing base, particularly its medical device industry, as well as its services, stands to gain from expanded, streamlined transatlantic trade. More trade means more jobs.\r\n\r\n\tOf course, as with previous pacts, a U.S.-E.U. trade agreement would need to adhere to appropriate labor and environmental standards, among other key details. So it\u2019s too early to advocate for a specific deal. But it\u2019s not too early to laud the president and the bipartisan members of Congress who are working to expand the already strong economic and political ties with Europe.\r\n\r\n\tRead entire article online here.\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tLearn more about Rep. Paulsen\u2019s work on advancing U.S. \u2013 EU trade relations http://ow.ly/kdXWf.\r\n\r\n\t###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://paulsen.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=105&itemid=1213"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0400242172181606, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}