On July 27, 2011, a collection of leading United States business groups (Business Council for Sustainable Energy, Business Roundtable, Coalition of Service Industries, Emergency Committee for American Trade, Information Technology Industry Council, National Association of Manufacturers,
National Electrical Manufacturers Association, National Foreign Trade Council, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, United States Council for International Business) urged increased efforts to promote United States clean energy exports. The group unveiled their proposal at a Capital Hill briefing.
The group believes that aggressively promoting U.S. exports of clean technologies and environmentally‐friendly goods and services should be a top priority for the Administration and Congress, resulting in job creation and American technological leadership in the years ahead. The group set forth the following six principles to guide action by the United States government:
1. Ensure clean technology neutrality by setting objective criteria to maximize U.S. export opportunities and reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.
2. Activate U.S. commercial diplomacy by strategically developing a comprehensive national clean technology export strategy, including efforts by the Foreign Commercial Service team, the Secretary of Commerce, and Congress.
3. Require robust monitoring of and reporting on clean technology export promotion programs.
4. Further develop flexible clean technology funding mechanisms including financial incentives and fast tracking clean energy transactions.
5. Protect American ideas and intellectual property rights by implementing and enforcing the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and strengthening other legal protections.
6. Reduce green trade barriers by eliminating taxes and tariffs on environmental goods and services.
A copy of a press release from the United States Council for International Business providing more information can be found here.
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