US trade reciprocity bill draws support, foreign access said vital

Oct 28, 2009 | 12:17 PM | Scott Robertson

The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) has come out in support of the Reciprocal Market Access Act of 2009, but steel interests say that while the concept of reciprocity appears reasonable, making trade concessions while failing to gain foreign access is of no value to the United States.

Sheffield, Mass.-based CPA is a national non-profit organization representing the interests of 2.7 million citizens through its farmer, rancher, manufacturing and organized labor association and company members. Its stated goal is to achieve trade policy for the benefit of American citizens, farms, factories and working people.

The organization is in favor of the legislation, sponsored by Rep. Louise Slaughter (D., N.Y.) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio), stating that the bill will help solve the problem of the United States making tariff concessions in trade negotiations while failing to gain effective foreign market access in return.....