Expanding Trade, Investment and Tourism

Ninety-five percent of the people we want to sell something to, live outside the United States. The chamber wants to see the completion of a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement, and has proposed a new Transatlantic Economic and Trade Pact with the European Union. And, says Donohue, it’s time to get moving on additional free trade deals. “To do this and the TPP, Congress must renew Trade Promotion Authority. Every president should have it. The executive branch must be able to negotiate agreements that won’t be picked apart by Congress but, instead, be subject to an up or down vote.”

Advancing Regulatory and Legal Reform

“To grow our economy and create jobs, we need significant regulatory and legal reform,” says Donohue. “The regulatory avalanche confronting our job creators is unprecedented. The Labor Department has 100 rulemakings in the pipeline. Dodd-Frank requires 447 rules, 63 reports and 59 studies. The health care law established 159 new agencies, panels, commissions and regulatory bodies. EPA has some 200 regulations in the works. And the business community must contend with a National Labor Relations Board that is clearly tilted toward the unions. This adds up to a big drag on our economy.”

Donohue says the chamber will aggressively take on regulations that are costing jobs. “We will go to Congress. We will go to the courts. And we’ll go to the court of public opinion to explain how a regulatory system run amok is needlessly driving American jobs out of the country or out of existence. Let me be clear: The chamber supports necessary, sensible and forward-looking regulations.” Donohue says the chamber’s Institute for Legal Reform will continue to fight the expansion of excessive litigation, “that is sucking the vitality out of American businesses.” And, he says, the chamber wants to stop “the alarming rise” of third-party litigation financing where outside investors fund lawsuits in exchange for a share of the award or settlement.

Encouraging Innovation

“Innovation depends on a rational, efficient and globally-competitive tax system. If we want to keep industries here and attract new investors to our shores, we cannot continue to maintain one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world. We need to lower that rate as part of comprehensive tax reform that broadens the tax base, and reduces the costs and burdens of compliance.”

Promoting Fiscal Responsibility and Entitlement Reform

“We must rein in government spending, and bring deficits and debt under control,” says Donohue. “And we can’t do that without serious entitlement reform.”