These agreements will remove existing barriers to free trade in those countries, such as tariffs, regulatory barriers, and red tape. Currently, if a U.S. company wanted to sell a product in South Korea or Colombia, it had to pay an average tariff of around 12 percent; in Panama, the tariff was 7 percent. While American companies have been paying tariffs, many of our most tenacious competitors from the European Union and Canada have implemented trade agreements and are gaining market share at the expense of U.S companies.

Consider the projected impact of just the three free trade agreements passed yesterday. With South Korea and Colombia growing twice as fast as the U.S., and Panama growing three times as fast, free access to their markets is essential. Last year, even with trade barriers still in place, GE earned $2 billion in revenues from those three markets. Freer access will yield even faster sales growth that will directly and positively impact job growth here at home. The White House estimates that the South Korean free trade agreement will support more than 70,000 American jobs, boosting U.S. exports by up to $11 billion.

GE will continue to highlight the importance of free trade agreements like the ones passed today and advocate for passage of future, similar deals. Here in the U.S., we have the world’s best companies and employees, but 95 percent of consumers live outside the U.S. Reaching them—on the same terms as our toughest competitors—will benefit us all.

Ed Gerwin, Senior Fellow for Trade and Global Economic Policy at Third Way says, “A famous bank robber once said that he robbed banks because that’s where the money is. Well the United States needs to export because that’s where the economic growth is.”

In Washington, trade is about to get put to the test. Free trade agreements (FTAs) with three close allies — Korea, Colombia, and Panama — are ready to be submitted to Congress, and many thousands of GE workers stand to benefit from their timely approval.

The FTAs will eliminate tariffs in these markets that can impose costs of 10 percent or more on goods exported from the United States. They also eliminate regulatory, licensing and other government-imposed barriers, enabling U.S. companies like GE to compete and win abroad. Korea, Colombia and Panama are growing markets – supporting close to $2 billion in GE revenues last year. With FTAs in place there, we can anticipate GE sales to grow even faster – as they have with our other FTA partners – and support more U.S. jobs.

Jay Timmons, President and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers, says prompt action on these agreements is crucial because the markets of Korea, Colombia and Central America are expanding. “There is growth and opportunity in those markets, and if the United States is not poised to take advantage of that opportunity, we’re not going to be able to compete in those markets effectively, when other countries around the world will be able to do so.”

Ever since 1880, when Thomas Edison built that first lighting factory in Menlo Park, GE has been manufacturing in America. And for more than 100 years, it has been selling those goods abroad, supporting jobs in the United States while helping to raise standards of living globally. Last year, GE had more than $17 billion worth of exports – double the number of just five years ago. Today, those international markets matter more than ever. Whether its sales of gas turbines to Saudi Arabia, health care devices to Mexico, or aircraft engines to China, exports to the world are helping to power GE, today and into the future.

As GE Chairman & CEO Jeff Immelt said earlier this week at the US Chamber of Commerce: “We should get these [FTAs] approved and get moving on other trade deals and we should do this today.”

I’m particularly excited to see the renewable energy framework that was included in the stimulus bill introduced by Congress last week. The bill includes incentives for investment in new renewables projects that will immediately stimulate the creation of “green” collar jobs. The proposal also includes infrastructure investments in transmission capability and smart grid, which will enable more renewables to feed into the grid and ultimately into our homes and businesses. These are important steps in the right direction, and great news for America’s renewables industry, and I urge the Obama Administration and Congress to enact this legislation quickly.

An aging infrastructure and an increasing demand for limited energy resources are very real challenges that America faces today. However, strong renewable energy policy like the kind proposed last week can make President Obama’s vision a reality. Given today’s economic challenges, we see that growing our renewable energy industry is not only important for the environment; it is a crucial step toward putting people back to work and the nation on a path toward greater energy independence.

To give you an idea of how important energy policy is, take a look at some industry numbers that have really impressed me:

• Wind energy installed in the US doubled from 2.5 gigawatts (enough to power over 800,000 homes) in 2006 to more than 5 gigawatts (enough to power close to 1.7 million homes) in 2007, largely due to consistent policy.
• In 2008, industry projections are that US wind installs have nearly doubled again, providing enough wind power to make it the nation’s top #1 or #2 energy source to be added to the grid this past year — neck and neck with traditional natural gas fired power.
• The U.S. has installed more wind turbines in the past 2 years than the previous 20 years combined.
• In the fall of 2008, the U.S. passed Germany as the world’s leading producer of wind power for the first time, a position that it continues to hold into 2009.
• Going forward, strong energy policy could help support the U.S. Department of Energy’s call for wind energy to meet 20% of U.S. electricity consumption by the year 2030 and create 500,000 new “green” jobs.

A solution to these challenges is a smarter electrical network – or a smarter grid. Smart grid technologies will help us maximize the potential of our existing grid simply by making it more intelligent. In doing so, we will create a smarter energy network capable of:

• Optimizing more clean-energy resources, such as wind and solar.
• Empowering consumers to manage their energy usage and costs.
• Delivering significant increases in energy efficiency, decreasing carbon emissions.
• Increasing power reliability, delivering greater productivity.

Unfortunately, updating the energy infrastructure to meet the needs of the 21st century is no easy task, and certainly won’t happen overnight. It will require the combined strength of government, utilities, business and academia.

We are encouraged by President Barack Obama’s recognition that the time for this country’s energy makeover has come, and we are optimistic about the commitments that members of his administration have made to get us there. Their goals of driving waste out of the electrical network, improving efficiency and increasing productivity are key to smart grid implementation. We also support their efforts to expand renewable energy, as smart grid technologies will enable the full potential of renewable energy resources to be realized. And, we are optimistic about the stimulus funding for these efforts being applied to deliver new jobs and a more sustainable electrical infrastructure for our nation.

At GE, we welcome the opportunity to work alongside our utility customers and the Obama Administration to expedite the delivery of a smarter electrical grid.

At a press conference in Washington DC, USCAP outlined “A Blueprint for Legislative Action.” The document outlines specific guidelines for the Obama Administration and Congress to pass legislation that protects the environment and assists the transition to a low-carbon economy. Specifically, this includes reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent of 2005 levels by 2050 through an economy-wide cap-and-trade program.

GE’s Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt joined 25 other corporations and five environmental organizations to help create the Blueprint over a two-year period.

“In the past, the U.S. has proven that we have the will, the capabilities and the courage to invest in innovation – even in difficult times,” said Jeff Immelt, Chairman and CEO of GE. “Today, cap-and-trade legislation is a crucial component in fueling the bold clean energy investments necessary to catapult the U.S. again to preeminence in global energy and environmental policy, strengthen the country’s international competitiveness, and create millions of rewarding new American jobs.”

The Blueprint details steps for creating a mandatory, economy-wide cap-and-trade program, coupled with cost containment measures and complementary policies addressing a federal technology research development and deployment program, coal technology, transportation, and building and energy efficiency.

* Read the USCAP press release
* USCAP’s “A Blueprint for Legislative Action”
* USCAP’s web site
* Read the complete statement from Jeff Immelt before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Hearing on USCAP

* Washington Post: Coalition Agrees on Emissions Cuts (registration may be required)
* USA Today: Businesses join plan to cut greenhouse gases

Before joining GE earlier this year, I served as the Deputy U.S. Trade Representative, overseeing U.S. trade relations with the countries of East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia and Africa. That experience highlighted for me the critical importance of rule of law to international trade and development. Today, as the leader responsible for GE’s international relations and public policy, I am pleased that working to strengthen the rule of law, especially in emerging markets, is a core goal of GE’s public policy agenda.

I have always been deeply impressed by a hallmark of GE’s culture — our commitment to the highest ethical and compliance standards. That commitment is a natural fit with our policy efforts to enhance rule of law. It is an important, but challenging, task. While we have seen many positive developments in rule of law globally over the past two decades, we still see many areas for improvement. That’s why GE is continuing to engage vigorously to address this issue.

I’m pleased to share how we are working with governments and other partners to assess needs, build on GE’s core strengths, and find ways to deploy our resources to attain results that strengthen our company, our customers, our partners, and the world.

You can find more information here.

Also, if you’re still interested on rule of law policies, you might be interested in exploring the following links.

* My full perspective on promoting rule of law
* More about citizenship at GE
* More about GE Foundation public policy initiatives

Here’s a copy of the letter.

* Also you might be interested in watching Markus Becker, GE’s European energy policy executive, further discuss the letter.

During the forum, GE’s own Kevin Walsh, managing director of renewable energy at Energy Financial Services, had a chance to present to the council on the rapidly changing renewable energy policy landscape. We caught up with Kevin after the event and got to ask him a few questions about GE’s position on energy policy. You can watch excerpts from our conversation below.

*View Kevin’s presentation to the American Council on Renewable Energy