Trade and Manufacturing

Rochester has a rich economic history, from the Flour City to the world capital of photography and beyond. Products developed and manufactured in Rochester helped to transform the twentieth century, and now the Rochester area is positioned to be a center of innovation long into the future. Congresswoman Slaughter believes that in order to grow Rochester's economy, federal policies must protect American manufacturers and support the creation of more American jobs, especially in the manufacturing sector.

The businesses and workers responsible for building so much of America’s prosperity have been virtually abandoned by thirty years of misguided trade policy. Congresswoman Slaughter knows that we can’t put our economy at risk by making the same mistakes that have devastated manufacturers and the middle class in the past. Beginning with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994, the United States has entered a series of free trade agreements that have not kept their promise of providing markets for American products. Instead, they gave other countries free rein to undercut our manufacturers with cheap labor and lax environmental standards. In the Rochester area alone, the number of manufacturing jobs has been cut in half since NAFTA was implemented. The congresswoman opposed NAFTA and subsequent free trade agreements and will continue to oppose any trade agreement that is a bad deal for U.S. manufacturers and workers.

Priorities

• Oppose Fast Track of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP): Congresswoman Slaughter opposes so-called “fast track” authority, a legislative procedure that amounts to nothing more than a rubber stamp for unwise trade agreements and prevents the people’s elected representatives from making any changes to prospective trade agreements. In 2015, President Obama stepped up his efforts to fast track the TPP, a free trade agreement between the United States and eleven countries around the Asia-Pacific Region. Fast track would prevent Congress from amending the agreement and force an up-or-down vote. Without congressional oversight, Congresswoman Slaughter believes the TPP will become the new NAFTA and will hurt American manufacturing jobs.
• Union and Worker Rights: Labor unions have played a vital role in creating the largest middle class in the world. Unions have fought for important workplace protections, increased wages, and ensured justice for workers. Congresswoman Slaughter continues to work alongside unions and other advocates to improve working conditions and salaries for America's working poor and middle class.
• Support Rochester Business and Technology: Investing in cutting-edge technology for U.S. manufacturers will help American businesses compete in the global economy. That is why the congresswoman is working closely with Eastman Business Park and local businesses and building support for research centers at Rochester’s world-class universities to develop groundbreaking innovations and create new jobs in fields such photonics and optics, biotechnology, and nanotechnology.

Accomplishments

• Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership: Congresswoman Slaughter fought for and helped win the Rochester and the Finger Lakes Region’s bid to become one of the first regions in the United States designated as part of the Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership (IMCP). The IMCP gives the region new tools to leverage economic development funds and will strengthen our competitiveness in attracting global investments.
• Reciprocal Market Access Act (RMAA): The bipartisan Reciprocal Market Access Act (RMAA) would require the reduction of foreign market barriers before decreasing U.S. tariffs, a move that would level the playing field for American workers and support American manufacturing jobs. The RMAA would enhance the tools available to our trade negotiators, ensuring that the U.S. is able to achieve real reciprocity in the international marketplace. This legislation, first introduced in 2007, would provide additional leverage for USTR to ensure that trade negotiations fully address the market access problems faced by U.S. producers.
• Keep America Secure Act: The congresswoman is the author of the Keep America Secure Act, a bill designed to rebuild our nation’s domestic electronics sector and strengthen our national defense network. The bill will provide a boost to American manufacturing while ensuring that our national security supply chain won’t be disrupted by foreign nations or other foreign actors.
• Integrated Photonics Institute for Manufacturing Innovation: At the congresswoman’s behest, the Department of Defense (DOD) announced it would commit $110 million in federal funding to build an Integrated Photonics Institute for Manufacturing Innovation. To ensure that Rochester is the center of that institute, Congresswoman Slaughter brought together local and state stakeholders to coordinate a state-wide “concept paper” for the DOD’s consideration. On January 29, 2015, New York’s Rochester-led consortium became one of three finalists for the institute.