On
April 6, Trevor Myers, president and CEO of Cloyes Gear and Products
Inc., testified before the House Small Business Committee on behalf of
his company, as well as the Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association (AASA) and the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association
(MEMA), in support of pending U.S. Free Trade Agreements with South
Korea, Columbia and Panama. His testimony was given at a hearing
entitled “Help Wanted: How Passing Free Trade Agreements Will Help
Small Businesses Create New Jobs.” Cloyes Gear and Products Inc. is a
member of MEMA’s affiliate organizations AASA and the Original
Equipment Suppliers Association (OESA).
“Cloyes employees know they are competing in a highly competitive
global marketplace, and export business for Cloyes is growing rapidly,”
Myers stated in his testimony. “In addition, the company has benefited
greatly from NAFTA, which has allowed us to freely sell original
equipment and aftermarket goods to Mexico. Sales of goods to Mexico
produced by its U.S. workforce have grown approximately 25 percent per
year.
“Trade with South Korea is particularly important to a company such as
Cloyes,” Myers continued. “We began selling advanced engine components
to Korea in October 2010 – a new system for the company that employs
approximately 30 U.S. hourly employees.
“Additionally, engines utilizing Cloyes’s components are shipped to
China, Thailand, Australia and South America,” Myers stated. “Good
trade relations are essential to future growth of additional new
programs and we urge Congress to consider and ratify all three pending
trade agreements.”
