Reston, VA - NPES The Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies announces its strong support of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and is urging Congress to approve the agreement this year before the 114th Congress adjourns.

"With 95% of the world's consumers living outside of the United States, exporting can bring substantial benefits to American manufacturers and their workers," states NPES President Thayer Long. One of the ways the Association is working hard to make more international markets available to its members is by urging Congress to approve the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) this year. "If the U.S. doesn't participate through TPP in setting the rules of trade in this large and vibrant region of the world, NPES members, other U.S. manufacturers and consumers in general will be disadvantaged since many good-paying American jobs depend on exports," Long adds.

TPP is a multilateral free trade agreement (FTA) among eleven Pacific-rim nations and the United States. Six of the 11 already have FTAs with the U.S. (Australia, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Peru and Singapore), five do not (Brunei, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand and Vietnam). With a combined population of more than 490 million and an overall economy of more than $10 trillion (almost 14% of the global economy) the 11 TPP countries represent a combined market for U.S. goods and services close to the size of the European Union (EU), which (pre-Brexit) is home to nearly 510 million people and has a $16.2 trillion economy. When the U.S. is added to the 11 TPP nations the total FTA would constitute about 36% of the world economy.

NPES and its allies in the U.S. Coalition for TPP, comprised of more than 400 business organizations of all sizes from diverse industries, are urging President Obama and Congress to redouble their efforts to approve TPP this year. According to NPES Government Affairs Director Mark Nuzzaco, "TPP is critical to promoting U.S. economic leadership in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as globally. The agreement shouldn't be jeopardized by the current Congress failing to approve it." Ratification this year is especially important given that TPP is opposed by both major party presidential candidates. "This opposition to TPP is especially unfortunate," says Nuzzaco, "given that exports spurred by free trade agreements (FTAs) like it have, according to the U.S. International Trade Administration, proven to support higher-paying U.S. jobs."

Notwithstanding campaign rhetoric to the contrary, U.S. Government data also show that FTAs have supported export increases that sustain and expand U.S. manufacturing employment. TPP will add to this by opening more markets and expanding opportunities for U.S. manufacturers. It will set strong, enforceable rules for U.S. trade with the TPP countries and help create a fairer international trading system.

Additionally, TPP contains first-ever provisions to improve American competitiveness, including prohibitions on digital protectionism, new rules on fair competition with state-owned enterprises, tools to promote small business exports, stronger intellectual property rights, and good governance rules to fight corruption. "Exports are a very important part of our business," says NPES Government Affairs Chairman Greg Salzman, President, Aleyant Systems, a provider of software services to the graphic communications industry, "and TPP will help facilitate significant new commercial opportunities for our products in a region of the world with growing economies. U.S. companies simply can't afford not to be competitive players in these markets."

Finally, not only will TPP help U.S. manufacturers gain greater access to export markets, but it will also have a salutary impact on U.S. manufacturers' costs in obtaining from TPP countries raw materials not readily available in the United States, which can then be used in manufacturing U.S. made products for both domestic consumption and export.

NPES invites its members to share their stories of commercial successes and challenges in exporting. And, it urges them to contact their elected members of Congress in support of FTAs in general, and TPP in particular. A grassroots tool to help facilitate such messages is provided at: http://npes.freeenterpriseaction.com/BzDrtEa.