Texas leaders join British consulate to support EU-US trade deal
New study by the Perryman Group showed the potential gains in Texas from an EU-US free trade agreement.
Deputy Ambassador Philip Barton speaking on UK Day at the Texas Capitol in Austin, Texas
Texas leaders joined the UK government and UK companies in Austin, Texas to show support for a comprehensive EU-US free trade agreement. A report from the Perryman Group shows that an EU-US trade deal could could potentially add 90,000 jobs to the Texas workforce and billions to its gross output.
Texas Governor Rick Perry, Congressman Michael McCaul, Mayor Lee Leffingwell, State Rep. John Davis, State Rep. Rafael Anchia, and representatives from the Austin Chamber of Commerce and from UK companies doing business in Texas joined British Deputy Head of Mission Philip Barton to release the new study.
Philip Barton remarked on the occasion:
We know international trade is vital to growth on both sides of the Atlantic. We understand the need to do away with unnecessary barriers to commerce. And we know that competitive economies like Texas and the UK stand to gain most from this process of liberalization.
This report backs that knowledge with hard data. It shows that a comprehensive trade agreement could create up to 166,000 jobs and generate up to $17 billion in additional gross output in the state of Texas alone.
In the State of the Union address we heard the President announce the commencement of negotiations on a transatlantic trade partnership. This report should really focus minds in Washington and Brussels on the necessity of concluding those negotiations successfully. We owe it to our economies and people to make this a game-changing free trade deal.