3C Urges Congress to Consider Small Businesses in International Trade Deals
The Connected Commerce Council (3C) is committed to ensuring that America’s small business community has easy and affordable access to digital platforms they need to increase profitably and efficiency in today’s global economy. Barrier-free trade and the free flow of cross-border data is essential to ensuring small businesses are able to reach new customers and export their goods internationally.
As Congress looks toward negotiating the USMCA trade agreement between Mexico and Canada, 3C will continue urging Members of Congress to not leave 30 million small businesses behind during trade negotiations. The first step is showing Congress that access to data and digital tools matters to you and your small business. Please sign onto the public 3C-USMCA letter below to show your support now!
Dear Congress,
As small business owners from across the United States, we are the first to recognize how access to digital platforms, marketplaces, and tools have rapidly transformed the way goods and services are sold in today’s economy. Digitally-powered small businesses rely heavily on affordable access to digital tools and datasets developed by companies like Google, Amazon, and Facebook. These technologies help growing businesses to directly lower costs, create jobs and engage in digital commerce outside of our immediate geographic limitations.
Technology companies and the services they provide have made entrepreneurship easier, and they are essential to small business success in today’s global economy. The ease that these services providers have allowed growing companies to sell and ship all across the United States and internationally.
A recent survey by George Mason University’s Mercatus Center supports data showing that small business use of Facebook directly increases their propensity of trade and commerce across borders. With more than two billion Facebook users worldwide, small businesses are able to reach new customers and advertise new products. These same digital tools help small businesses to unleash massive economic potential and create better, more dynamic market competition.
As Congress and the administration increasingly look toward finalizing USMCA and other international trade deals, small business owners across the U.S. are growing increasingly concerned that specific attention will not be paid to their interests that digital platforms, marketplaces, and tools are remarkably valuable for small business growth, profitability and long-term success.
These same concerns have brought us to join the Connected Commerce Council (3C), advocating for trade policies that ensure small businesses and our reliance on digital tools are not left out of any trade discussion.
We hope your office will look to 3C as a resource when policy discussions occur pertaining to digital trade policy.
Most Sincerely,
[gravityentries id=”8″]
