Press Release

For Immediate Release October 25, 2005

Contact: Darren McKinney (202) 637-3093 Christopher Wenk (202) 637-3078

NAM JOINS NEW COALITION PUSHING FOR DOHA ROUND SUCCESS
Engler Expects 'ABCDoha' to Be a Powerful Force

WASHINGTON, DC - The National Association of Manufacturers today joined other business groups to launch the American Business Coalition for Doha (ABCDoha), an umbrella group of companies, associations and other organizations working to achieve ambitious results in the Doha Round of World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations.

"Doha Round negotiations have reached a critical stage as the December deadline for the Hong Kong Ministerial looms," began NAM President John Engler. He was joined at the ABCDoha launch by U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman and other business leaders.

"Members of ABCDoha have come together enthusiastically, and we intend to be a powerful new force in support of a successful Doha Round for agricultural, manufacturing and services interests," Engler continued. "By joining this effort, the NAM will amplify the voice of U.S. manufacturers calling for significant gains in real market access. After all, manufactured goods account for over 75 percent of world merchandise trade.

"The formation of this coalition underscores the need for more rapid movement by WTO member countries with respect to the ambitious U.S. agricultural proposal recently presented in Geneva," said Engler. "The NAM's primary interest is in the significant reduction of industrial tariffs, but we won't get anywhere unless the European Union and others get very serious, very soon about agricultural market access. I have been in contact with the NAM's counterpart industrial organizations in Europe to emphasize this point."

Reiterating that "manufacturers have huge a stake" in the Doha Round's Non-Agricultural Market Access negotiations, Engler explained that the NAM had earlier worked to form both the WTO Action Group and the Zero Tariff Coalition. The WTO Action Group's major objective is to ensure that the priorities and commercial interests of U.S. and global industrial sectors are fully realized in the Doha Round. The Zero Tariff Coalition is an expanding group of companies and trade associations that advocates comprehensive elimination of tariffs on a wide variety of products.

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The National Association of Manufacturers is the nation's largest industrial trade association, representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all 50 states. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the NAM has 10 additional offices across the country. Visit the NAM's award-winning web site at www.nam.org for more information about manufacturing and the economy.