USTR Stresses Importance Of Innovation
Creativity and innovation can be the cornerstone of U.S. economic development and the Obama administration is going to work to make sure the country continues to protect that critical resource, newly confirmed U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk told an audience at Howard University on Wednesday. "We know the world is hungry for American ideas," he said, adding that 95 percent of the world's consumers live outside the United States. "This [economic] crisis wasn't made in a day and it's not going to be solved in a day," Kirk said at a forum on intellectual property hosted by the National Foreign Trade Council's Global Innovation Forum and Howard's Institute for Entrepreneurship, Leadership & Innovation.
Having a "thoughtful, progressive rules-based trade program" for the United States can help restore the economy, Kirk said. "America's ideas can help turn our economy around and we can do it sooner rather than later," he said. Trading partners must commit to actions that will allow for a level playing field while protecting and enforcing IP rights and making sure there are market protections in place for U.S. investors. Meanwhile, they must respect international labor and environmental standards, Kirk said. Obama wants an enhanced focus on enforcement of existing rules through all the trade tools officials currently have in their arsenal, Kirk said, but the administration is also not afraid to file complaints with the WTO as a last resort.
Join the Discussion
The National Journal Group has the right (but not the obligation) to monitor the comments and to remove any materials it deems inappropriate.
Comments powered by Disqus