Armed with a contract extension through 2018, Motion Picture Association of America chairman Chris Dodd was firing off volley after volley of statistics Monday to show the economic power and importance of the TV and movie industries.
That was an effort to demonstrate the value of Congress' continued consideration of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), which is when Congress defines negotiating priorities for trade agreements. In this case, it would provide so-called "fast track" authority for the President to speed a Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal (TPP) through Congress.
In a series of releases, MPAA talked about the number of jobs and dollar figures for wages created in various states by the TV and motion picture industries. For example, 20,300 "direct" jobs and $1.05 billion in wages Illinois, and similar breakouts for New York (a whopping $9.95 billion in wages) Florida, Texas, Ohio and Georgia. In each, the message from Dodd is the same: "From seamstresses and carpenters to electricians and camera grips, the film and television industry supports an enormous amount of good-paying American jobs," he said. "Supporting TPA and the U.S. trade agenda – including TPP – will enhance America’s competitive advantage around the world and allow our industry to drive even more economic activity here at home.”
TPP would expand trade and access to creative content to much of the Asia-Pacific region, MPAA has said, including creating what it calls "strong standards for the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights for the 21st century."
"Completion of a meaningful TPP will allow our flourishing industry to continue expanding into some of the world’s largest and most important markets to continue to build on this American success story," an MPAA spokesperson said of the treaty.
The Senate passed TPA legislation, but the House has not yet done so.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) would expand trade, including access to creative content to much of the Asia-Pacific region, MPAA says, including creating what it calls "strong standards for the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights for the 21st century."
