The U.S. and several Pacific Rim nations recently agreed to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which may bring new growth opportunities to the U.S., Scott Kennedy, acting deputy assistant secretary for manufacturing in the Department of Transportation’s International Trade Administration, said.
In recent years, U.S. companies that transport equipment and goods related to transportation services have seen a rise in customer demand, both nationally as well as internationally.
Important pieces of equipment, such as commercial aircraft, railway rolling stock parts, aircraft engines and miscellaneous aircraft parts are made in the U.S. and are important to the transportation infrastructure of other nations.
In 2014 alone, over 680,000 transportation equipment-manufacturing workers based in the U.S. made up 4 percent of the nation’s entire manufacturing production workforce. This growth cannot keep up if international markets are not duty-free, or if exporters have high tariffs blocking their businesses.
The new agreement reduces service barriers, removes tariffs and improves transparency. It also boosts competitiveness with more intellectual property-rights protection. The agreement calls for enforceable labor and environmental obligations for member nations’ companies.
The TPP stands to help the U.S. boost its trade and economic footprint throughout the Pacific Rim region, and the growth in the economies of this region will come with corresponding increases in demand for products related to transportation.
