The Atlanta District Export Council (DEC) has supported resolutions of its national organization to normalize trade relations with China, to end unilateral economic sanctions and to support fast track negotiating authority.
“Fast track negotiating authority is especially important to a lot of us,” Bill Poole, an Atlanta attorney and chairman of the Atlanta DEC, told GlobalFax last week in a telephone interview. “We want to get it back on the radar screen.” The authority calls for single up-or-down votes on trade agreements in the U.S. Congress and eliminates delays and compromises in the legislative process.
Mr. Poole also said that there was widespread agreement about supporting trade relations with China. He added that opinions were more divided about the implementation of unilateral sanctions.
All three resolutions were approved at the organization’s national conference held last month in Indianapolis.
There are 51 DECs in the U.S., which serve as an independent advisory arm of the Department of Commerce. The secretary of commerce appoints its members, who are predominantly composed of exporters. Service professionals and academicians also are included.
Also attending the conference were Lori Clos-Fisher, vice chair of the Atlanta DEC and senior vice president of global treasury services, Bank of America; Diane Stoffel, international credit manager at Georgia-Pacific; William Weiller, president of Purafil Inc. and Sam Troy, director of the U.S. Export Assistance Center (USEAC) in Atlanta.
For more information about the Atlanta DEC, Mr. Poole may be reached at Cofer, Beauchamp, Stradley & Hicks, by calling (404) 266-3939, ext. 235, fax to (404) 364-0044 or send an E-mail to wpoole@cbshlaw.com