[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 97 (Wednesday, May 20, 2015)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 29197-29198]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-12439]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 97 / Wednesday, May 20, 2015 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 29197]]


                Proclamation 9282 of May 15, 2015

                
World Trade Week, 2015

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                After 6 years of tremendous progress, America has 
                fought its way back from the worst recession of our 
                lifetimes. With the grit and determination of working 
                families, we have rebuilt our economy, retooled the 
                auto industry, and revitalized American manufacturing. 
                Our economy is growing and creating jobs at the fastest 
                pace in over a decade, and as this progress continues, 
                we must ensure that all Americans can share in our 
                Nation's prosperity. This conviction is at the core of 
                middle-class economics, and few things are as vital to 
                ensuring that our economy benefits all Americans as 
                trade. Trade allows our people to work, our businesses 
                to thrive, and our goods and services to compete on a 
                global scale. This week, we reaffirm the importance of 
                trade, and we redouble our efforts to position our 
                workers, farmers, manufacturers, and businesses at the 
                center of the 21st-century global economy.

                America's future depends on unlocking economic 
                opportunities beyond our borders, where 95 percent of 
                the world's customers live. Last year was the fifth 
                straight record-breaking year for United States 
                exports, supporting 11.7 million American jobs and 
                contributing nearly one-third of our country's overall 
                economic growth since 2009. Continuing this steady 
                progress will strengthen America's middle class because 
                businesses that export tend to hire more, pay their 
                workers more, and invest more in innovation and 
                research.

                Americans prosper when foreign markets are open and our 
                trading partners play by the rules. My Administration's 
                efforts to advance trade are focused on opening markets 
                to American products and ensuring the rules of the 
                trading system are fair and reflect our values, 
                including on issues such as workers' rights and the 
                environment. That is why I am committed to leading on 
                trade--creating a race to the top for higher wages and 
                better working conditions--with a progressive, values-
                driven agenda that will ensure the United States is 
                able to shape the rules of the global economy to 
                benefit our workers and create economic opportunities 
                for our people and all those around the globe.

                In the Asia-Pacific, the Trans-Pacific Partnership 
                (TPP) agreement will open new doors of opportunity for 
                American workers and businesses in the world's fastest 
                growing region. Through the TPP, the United States is 
                updating NAFTA, instituting stronger, fully enforceable 
                labor and environmental standards, and ensuring our 
                trade partners play by the rules. With American 
                leadership, this agreement will remove trade barriers 
                and provide our Nation's exporters and innovators 
                access to these markets. And to protect our workers and 
                improve the lives of workers across the globe, it will 
                advance labor protections--including a minimum wage, a 
                prohibition on child labor and forced labor, and the 
                right to form unions. This agreement will level the 
                playing field for our workers and increase exports of 
                products stamped ``Made in the USA.''

                Smart trade agreements are important to helping middle-
                class families get ahead. My Administration has 
                redoubled our efforts to enforce existing trade 
                agreements, and we are working to ensure all Americans 
                have the

[[Page 29198]]

                knowledge and skills to succeed in an export-driven 
                economy. Our work has produced real results, protecting 
                jobs here at home and making it easier for businesses 
                to reach consumers living outside our borders, and it 
                has demonstrated that when the playing field is level, 
                American workers and businesses do not just compete--
                they win.

                During World Trade Week, we renew our commitment to 
                leading on trade in order to support more jobs and 
                increase wages here at home. For nearly a century, a 
                key component of this leadership has been strong 
                bipartisan support for trade negotiating authority, 
                which the Congress now has an opportunity to upgrade 
                and, in so doing, shape how the United States and our 
                trading partners engage on trade in the 21st century. 
                Generations of hardworking Americans have made our 
                economy the greatest in the world, and together, we can 
                ensure that trade safeguards our country's promise as a 
                land of opportunity where everyone can make it if they 
                try.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the 
                United States, do hereby proclaim May 17 through May 
                23, 2015, as World Trade Week. I encourage all 
                Americans to visit www.WhiteHouse.gov/Trade and to 
                observe this week with events, trade shows, and 
                educational programs that celebrate and inform 
                Americans about the benefits of trade to our Nation and 
                the global economy.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                fifteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand fifteen, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and thirty-ninth.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2015-12439
Filed 5-19-15; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F5