Harmony of Standards and Freer Trade Called For

29 October 1998

Tenneco Chairman Mead Calls for Harmony of Standards and Freer Trade

    MANCHESTER, N.H.--Oct. 28, 1998--Citing the importance of product exports to states like New Hampshire, Tenneco Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dana G. Mead called for expanded global trade and harmonization of industrial standards to help increase U.S. economic security. At the same time, he urged business to work against new barriers to world free trade and to support measures such as Fast Track legislation that would overcome such barriers and spur growth.
    In a speech to the Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire, Mead said "economic security depends on sustained growth and growth requires an important international trade and investment component." Noting that New Hampshire is home to nearly 500 exporting companies with exports totaling nearly $2 billion annually, Mead said 60 percent of New Hampshire's exports are in four manufacturing industries that have accounted for virtually all of the state's manufacturing job increases.
    Global markets are "too large, too promising and too consequential" for American business to shrink from the challenge of participating "big time," said Mead, also chairman of the Business Roundtable. All U.S. companies one way or another are "part of a global economy," he said, "and our participation in it will grow."
    That's why it is important for businesses to resist many new, highly sophisticated non-tariff barriers in the form of regulations, practices, certifications and divergent standards that are replacing formal trade barriers, he said. The new barriers are "invisible, deceptive, and more insidious than formal barriers and tougher to root out," and they prevent businesses from entering new markets, hit market participants with higher costs, drain off resources that could be best used for productive investment, add cost and reduce choice for consumers, and ultimately harm the economic security of nations.
    He recognized the work of the Transatlantic Business Dialogue (TAB-D) in which private sectors lobby for the elimination of obstacles which governments cannot or will not remove.
    TAB-D, he observed, has prompted the European Union and the United States to conclude a mutual recognition agreement that will affect more than $47 billion of transatlantic trade and lead to the elimination of duplicative testing, inspection and certification procedures on both continents. "It will result in earlier access to innovation, lower costs and lower prices," positively influencing transatlantic trade and exerting influence on rules and practices for free and fair trade around the world for years to come, Mead said.
    "Uniformly accepted and enforced global standards may reduce the possibility that we will have a whole new set of non-tariff barriers to unravel down the road in Asia, South America and elsewhere in the developing countries," he said.
    Uncertainties facing business are becoming increasingly complex and reaching beyond traditional national boundaries of commerce, Mead pointed out. "Onrushing global and technological change could outstrip the capabilities and capacities of our political and social institutions to cope," he said. Already, rapid capital flows can with several computer keystrokes transfer the equivalent of entire nations' GDPs anywhere in the world. Therefore, "we ignore global involvement and the new set of global uncertainties at our peril," said Mead.
    "Southeast Asia, Japan, Russia, and Brazil are four reasons why I believe foreign trade and investment are central to a new commercial century. Today in the United States, where one-third of our growth comes directly from exports and nearly 16 million jobs are tied to overseas sales, trade is nothing less than a prerequisite to success," he added.
    In addition to creating incredible opportunities for American business, uncertainty also puts a special burden on American business leaders, he said. "We must tap the qualities for which New Hampshire is famous by being bold, determined and pragmatic. We must think globally, enter international arenas with political friends and competitors alike and participate personally in ongoing trade debates."
    Tenneco is an $8 billion global manufacturing company headquartered in Greenwich, Conn., with 50,000 employees worldwide. Tenneco Automotive is one of the world's largest producers and marketers of ride control and exhaust systems and products, which are sold under the Monroe(R) and Walker(R) global brand names. Among its products are Sensa-Trac(R) shocks and struts, Rancho(R) shock absorbers, Walker(R) Quiet-Flow(tm) mufflers and DynoMax(tm) performance exhaust products, and Monroe(R) Clevite(tm) vibration control components. Tenneco Packaging is among the world's leading and most diversified packaging companies. Among its products are Hefty(R) trash bags, Hefty OneZip(R) and Baggies(R) food storage bags, E-Z Foil(R) single-use aluminum cookware and Hexacomb(R) paper honeycomb products.

For more information about Tenneco, visit the Tenneco website at http://www.tenneco.com.