Cantwell Honored For Longtime Leadership on Trade Policy by Washington International Trade Association
07.23.26 Cantwell Honored For Longtime Leadership on Trade Policy by Washington International Trade Association In speech, Cantwell pitches “Technology NATO” to counter China by establishing trade alliances & standards among the most technologically advanced countries;
Cantwell: “Our foreign policy cannot be about military might, & it can't be about cutting people off with tariffs.” WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last night, the Washington International Trade Association (WITA) presented U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, with the WITA Congressional Leadership Award for her decades of work in the Senate championing international trade and free markets. Upon receiving the award, Sen. Cantwell delivered remarks to the group gathered at the Atrium Hall of the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C. “I'm so excited about the global economy opportunities that we live in. I've proposed ideas for a technology NATO that is saying, take the most sophisticated technology countries like the U.S. and Japan and India and others, and make an alliance. And basically say that these are the rules of technology -- and if you don't apply those rules to your market, then people should not buy your product. “And that is the way the United States of America could get an upper hand on some of the competition that we face from China. I'm also for a U.S. - Middle East Free Trade Agreement. It is time for the United States not only to think about how to better stabilize that region of the world with new technology development,” Sen. Cantwell said. “But also to figure out how to get those countries to standardize on U.S. technology and the U.S. stack instead of what will happen if we ignore it, and China becomes the dominant force there instead.” “Because our foreign policy cannot be about military might, and it can't be about cutting people off with tariffs. Our strategy has to be opening markets, delivering great U.S. products , building a better world, and surviving on greater alliances.” Video of her remarks is HERE ; a transcript is HERE . Sen. Cantwell has been a steadfast champion of opening new markets for American manufacturers overseas, and of defending American businesses from the Trump Administration’s damaging tariffs. In her speech, Sen. Cantwell talked about her work to reauthorize and fund the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM Bank) and noted that with reauthorization for the bank due to expire later this year, “now we have to do it again.” Since September 2025, the EXIM Bank has authorized more than $29.3 billion in financing nationwide, including nearly $938.8 million in support for Washington state exports. Between FY 2024 and FY 2025, the EXIM Bank provided 146 Washington state exporters, including 111 small business exporters, with $18 billion in financing. Recently, more than 25 Washington groups and businesses joined a letter led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and signed by more than 320 organizations representing manufacturers, agricultural businesses, service companies, and other businesses calling on Congress to reauthorize and strengthen the EXIM Bank. Sen. Cantwell has been a strong proponent of the EXIM Bank, and a champion of the small businesses supported by its activities, throughout her time in Congress, including working to see it successfully reauthorized in 2019 . In September, Sen. Cantwell joined nearly 50 small business owners on the steps of the Supreme Court to push back against Trump’s reckless tariff policies. In April 2025, Sen. Cantwell joined small business owners at the Port of Seattle to sound the alarm on how disastrous these policies are for Washington state businesses and consumers. Immediately following President Trump’s April 2, 2025, ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs, Senators Cantwell and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced the bipartisan Trade Review Act to reaffirm Congress’ key role in setting and approving U.S. trade policy. The Trade Review Act of 2025 , modeled after the War Powers Resolution of 1973, would reestablish limits on the president’s ability to impose unilateral tariffs without the approval of Congress. The Trade Review Act of 2025 has considerable bipartisan support , and a bipartisan companion bill to Cantwell’s legislation has also been introduced in the House of Representatives. In October, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce , the world’s largest business organization, endorsed Sen. Cantwell’s legislation and the National Taxpayers Union included the Trade Review Act in their Top 10 Bipartisan Bills for Taxpayers “No Brainer” list for 2025. View all statements of support, including from organizations that represent millions of small, medium, and large businesses, HERE . Following President Trump’s first-term trade war, Sen. Cantwell was the leading voice in negotiations to end India’s 20% retaliatory tariff on American apples, which devastated Washington state’s apple exports. India had once been the second-largest export market for American apples, but after President Trump imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum in his first term, India imposed retaliatory tariffs in response and U.S. apple exports plummeted. The impact on Washington apple growers was severe: Apple exports from the state dropped from $120 million in 2017 to less than $1 million by 2023. In September 2023, following several years of Sen. Cantwell’s advocacy, India ended its retaliatory tariffs on apples and pulse crops which was welcome news to the state’s more than 1,400 apple growers and the 68,000-plus workers they support. In May 2023, Sen. Cantwell sent a letter urging the Biden Administration to help U.S. potato growers finally get approval to sell fresh potatoes in Japan. In June 2023, Sen. Cantwell hosted U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), then-chair of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, in Washington state for a forum with 30 local agricultural leaders in Wenatchee to discuss the Farm Bill. In 2022, Sen. Cantwell spearheaded passage of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, a law to crack down on skyrocketing international ocean shipping costs and ease supply chain backlogs that raise prices for consumers and make it harder for U.S. farmers and exporters to get their goods to the global market. In August 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sen. Cantwell sent a letter to then-Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue requesting aid funds be distributed to wheat growers . In December 2018, Sen. Cantwell celebrated the passage of the Farm Bill, which included $500 million of assistance for farmers , including those who grow wheat. In 2019, Sen. Cantwell helped secure a provision in the $16 billion USDA relief package , ensuring sweet cherry growers could access emergency funding to offset the impacts of tariffs and other market disruptions. In Washington state, two out of every five jobs are tied to trade and trade-related industries. Print Email Tweet Next Article Previous Article
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07.23.26 Cantwell Honored For Longtime Leadership on Trade Policy by Washington International Trade Association In speech, Cantwell pitches “Technology NATO” to counter China by establishing trade alliances & standards among the most technologically advanced countries; Cantwell: “Our foreign policy cannot be about military might, & it can't be about cutting people off with tariffs.” WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last night, the Washington International Trade Association (WITA) presented U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, with the WITA Congressional Leadership Award for her decades of work in the Senate championing international trade and free markets. Upon receiving the award, Sen. Cantwell delivered remarks to the group gathered at the Atrium Hall of the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C. “I'm so excited about the global economy opportunities that we live in. I've proposed ideas for a technology NATO that is saying, take the most sophisticated technology countries like the U.S. and Japan and India and others, and make an alliance. And basically say that these are the rules of technology -- and if you don't apply those rules to your market, then people should not buy your product. “And that is the way the United States of America could get an upper hand on some of the competition that we face from China. I'm also for a U.S. - Middle East Free Trade Agreement. It is time for the United States not only to think about how to better stabilize that region of the world with new technology development,” Sen. Cantwell said. “But also to figure out how to get those countries to standardize on U.S. technology and the U.S. stack instead of what will happen if we ignore it, and China becomes the dominant force there instead.” “Because our foreign policy cannot be about military might, and it can't be about cutting people off with tariffs. Our strategy has to be opening markets, delivering great U.S. products , building a better world, and surviving on greater alliances.” Video of her remarks is HERE ; a transcript is HERE . Sen. Cantwell has been a steadfast champion of opening new markets for American manufacturers overseas, and of defending American businesses from the Trump Administration’s damaging tariffs. In her speech, Sen. Cantwell talked about her work to reauthorize and fund the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM Bank) and noted that with reauthorization for the bank due to expire later this year, “now we have to do it again.” Since September 2025, the EXIM Bank has authorized more than $29.3 billion in financing nationwide, including nearly $938.8 million in support for Washington state exports. Between FY 2024 and FY 2025, the EXIM Bank provided 146 Washington state exporters, including 111 small business exporters, with $18 billion in financing. Recently, more than 25 Washington groups and businesses joined a letter led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and signed by more than 320 organizations representing manufacturers, agricultural businesses, service companies, and other businesses calling on Congress to reauthorize and strengthen the EXIM Bank. Sen. Cantwell has been a strong proponent of the EXIM Bank, and a champion of the small businesses supported by its activities, throughout her time in Congress, including working to see it successfully reauthorized in 2019 . In September, Sen. Cantwell joined nearly 50 small business owners on the steps of the Supreme Court to push back against Trump’s reckless tariff policies. In April 2025, Sen. Cantwell joined small business owners at the Port of Seattle to sound the alarm on how disastrous these policies are for Washington state businesses and consumers. Immediately following President Trump’s April 2, 2025, ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs, Senators Cantwell and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced the bipartisan Trade Review Act to reaffirm Congress’ key role in setting and approving U.S. trade policy. The Trade Review Act of 2025 , modeled after the War Powers Resolution of 1973, would reestablish limits on the president’s ability to impose unilateral tariffs without the approval of Congress. The Trade Review Act of 2025 has considerable bipartisan support , and a bipartisan companion bill to Cantwell’s legislation has also been introduced in the House of Representatives. In October, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce , the world’s largest business organization, endorsed Sen. Cantwell’s legislation and the National Taxpayers Union included the Trade Review Act in their Top 10 Bipartisan Bills for Taxpayers “No Brainer” list for 2025. View all statements of support, including from organizations that represent millions of small, medium, and large businesses, HERE . Following President Trump’s first-term trade war, Sen. Cantwell was the leading voice in negotiations to end India’s 20% retaliatory tariff on American apples, which devastated Washington state’s apple exports. India had once been the second-largest export market for American apples, but after President Trump imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum in his first term, India imposed retaliatory tariffs in response and U.S. apple exports plummeted. The impact on Washington apple growers was severe: Apple exports from the state dropped from $120 million in 2017 to less than $1 million by 2023. In September 2023, following several years of Sen. Cantwell’s advocacy, India ended its retaliatory tariffs on apples and pulse crops which was welcome news to the state’s more than 1,400 apple growers and the 68,000-plus workers they support. In May 2023, Sen. Cantwell sent a letter urging the Biden Administration to help U.S. potato growers finally get approval to sell fresh potatoes in Japan. In June 2023, Sen. Cantwell hosted U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), then-chair of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, in Washington state for a forum with 30 local agricultural leaders in Wenatchee to discuss the Farm Bill. In 2022, Sen. Cantwell spearheaded passage of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, a law to crack down on skyrocketing international ocean shipping costs and ease supply chain backlogs that raise prices for consumers and make it harder for U.S. farmers and exporters to get their goods to the global market. In August 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sen. Cantwell sent a letter to then-Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue requesting aid funds be distributed to wheat growers . In December 2018, Sen. Cantwell celebrated the passage of the Farm Bill, which included $500 million of assistance for farmers , including those who grow wheat. In 2019, Sen. Cantwell helped secure a provision in the $16 billion USDA relief package , ensuring sweet cherry growers could access emergency funding to offset the impacts of tariffs and other market disruptions. In Washington state, two out of every five jobs are tied to trade and trade-related industries. Print Email Tweet Previous Article
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