Ambassador Kirk traveled to Los Angeles on Friday, December 12th to meet with small business leaders from Southern California. Ambassador Kirk discussed USTR's new initiative around boosting exports by small- and medium-sized firms as a source of job creation here at home. According to the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation, international trade directly accounts for 342,000 jobs in Southern California.
Ambassador Kirk meets with small business leaders from Southern California
Ambassador Kirk also met with leaders of the Screen Actors Guild, the Director's Guild of America and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) to talk about USTR's work to protect America's creative services industry from piracy overseas. Ambassador Kirk briefed the leaders of MPAA about the case USTR recently took to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to ensure China complies with its WTO obligations on the the importation and distribution of copyright-intensive products such as theatrical films, DVDs, music, books and journals. The case is proceeding through the WTO and is an important step toward ensuring market access for legitimate U.S. products in the Chinese market, as well as ensuring market access for U.S. exporters and distributors of those products.
Ambassador Kirk meets with leaders of the Motion Picture Association of America
While in Los Angeles, Ambassador Kirk spoke with local radio station KPCC - hear here. He also met with members of the Los Angeles Times Editorial Board to discuss how trade is a key part of the country's economic revival and how trade benefits the regional economy of Southern California. California is the second largest exporting state in the country, with more than $144 billion of computers, electronics, machinery, and other goods exported last year alone. Read portions and hear audio of Ambassador Kirk's meeting with the Los Angeles Times Editorial Board meeting here.
