World Trade Week, 2013

Proclamation 8983 of May 17, 2013

World Trade Week, 2013

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

As a Nation, we need to do everything we can to create
good, middle-class jobs right here in America. And one
of the best ways we can do that is by boosting
manufacturing and expanding trade that allows us to
sell more of our goods and services all around the
world. We have made important progress toward meeting
that goal under our National Export Initiative, and we
are taking historic steps to help our businesses access
new markets abroad. But we cannot stop there. We need
to keep making the investments in commerce and
infrastructure that drive our economic growth and bring
more Americans into a thriving middle class.

We can start by modernizing our roads, bridges, and
ports. These upgrades would allow American companies to
ship their goods faster and cheaper, and they would
encourage businesses worldwide to set up shop here and
bring more jobs to our shores. So earlier this year, I
proposed the Partnership to Rebuild America--a
collaboration between the private and public sectors to
break ground on our most pressing infrastructure
projects.

In the past 4 years, we have focused on opening up
growing markets for our businesses through historic
trade agreements and enforcing trade rights so American
workers can compete on a level playing field. To build
on that progress, we are joining nations in Asia and
the Americas to negotiate a new, high-standard trade
agreement: the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Once
realized, the deal would boost our exports, support
American jobs, and help our companies succeed in the
global marketplace. And to ramp up trade with Europe,
we also plan to launch talks for a Transatlantic Trade
and Investment Partnership with the European Union.

My Administration is committed to expanding
international commerce that creates jobs and grows our
economy. During World Trade Week, we recognize workers,
growers, and entrepreneurs nationwide who share that
ambition, and we rededicate ourselves to advancing it
in the year ahead.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the
United States, do hereby proclaim May 19 through May
25, 2013, as World Trade Week. I encourage all
Americans to observe this week with events, trade
shows, and educational programs that celebrate and
inform Americans about the benefits of trade to our
Nation and the global economy.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
seventeenth day of May, in the year of our Lord two
thousand thirteen, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
seventh.