Small manufacturers drive trade protectionism up the US agenda

[redqueen]

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/b574e734-73f7-11d9-b705-00000e2511c8.html

By Edward Alden
Published: February 1 2005

Penn United Technology,a Pennsylvania maker of precision tools, got serious about the politics of trade in 2001. That was the year when Tyco, which was the biggest customer for the company's core electronics business, "just pulled everything out and moved everything to China", says David Frengel, the first full-time lobbyist in Penn United's history.

As a result, the company of 600 employees launched a campaign that has shaken up the National Association of Manufacturers, long one of the strongest voices for freer trade in Washington.

The NAM is set to unveil its new trade lobbying agenda in Washington today. For the first time since the late 1980s - the beginning of a wave of trade liberalisation - the fears of the NAM's smaller domestic member companies are getting equal weight with the ambitions of its big global members.

While the NAM will maintain its commitment to opening markets abroad, it will also demand a series of government initiatives to protect smaller companies and will insist that future trade deals provide measurable benefits to those that manufacture only in the US.
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