In an article for Viewpoints Americas, AS/COA President Susan Segal writes that, while free trade and NAFTA have taken the blame for manufacturing job losses in the U.S. Midwest, trade accounts for a substantial portion of U.S. growth that supports Midwestern manufacturing and agriculture.

“Trade agreements are not gifts of the United States [to another country] but gifts that we give ourselves,” said U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab. In a period of economic uncertainty, trade is an important driver of re-energizing economic growth, she emphasized at the 2008 Washington Conference on the Americas.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez called for passage of the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement and improvements in Cuba’s human rights at COA's annual Washington Conference on the Americas. He announced a May 21, 2008 White House event to “shine a spotlight” on political prisoners in Cuba.

In the opening remarks at the 2008 Washington Conference, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Thomas Shannon emphasized the “ultimately positive and hopeful” transformations that are occurring across the Americas and the importance of the U.S. to build policies around these changing dynamics.

At the COA's Washington Conference on the Americas, Secretary Rice underscored that there has “never been a time in modern history” when the U.S. relationship with the hemisphere has been so critical. U.S. friendship is not contingent upon any ideological position; rather, the administration is committed to working with countries in advancing key development issues.

President George W. Bush, speaking at the COA’s annual Washington Conference on the Americas, delivered a major policy speech on the U.S. role in the Western Hemisphere. “The foundation of a good foreign policy is good relations with your neighbors,” said the president, outlining priorities issues for U.S.-Latin American relations.

Speaking at the COA's Washington Conference on the Americas, Secretary Rice underscored that there has “never been a time in modern history” when the U.S. relationship with the hemisphere has been so critical. U.S. friendship is not contingent upon any ideological position; rather, the administration is committed to working with countries in advancing key development issues.