U.S. machinery exports would receive boost under proposed expansion of ‘Cape Town Convention’
The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) has joined with allied industry groups to urge inclusion of off-road equipment in an international treaty that facilitates export financing, which would help small and mid-sized U.S. manufacturers grow their export businesses.
AEM signed letters sent to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and the secretary general of the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) expressing support for expansion of the Cape Town Convention, an international treaty that standardizes transactions involving moveable property. Also signing the letter were the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, Equipment Leasing and Finance Association and North American Equipment Dealers Association.
The treaty expansion, or Fourth Protocol, would help the off-road equipment manufacturing industry increase exports by creating international standards for:
- Registration of contracts of sale
- Security interests
- Leases and conditional sales contracts
- Legal remedies for default in financing agreements
“The off-road equipment industry, which employs hundreds of thousands of American workers, depends strongly on U.S. exports to fuel growth,” said AEM President Dennis Slater. “Small and medium-sized businesses often don’t have the financial backing that allows them to compete in the world’s fastest-growing economies. A Fourth Protocol of the Cape Town Convention would help these businesses more easily compete and grow their exports.”
UNIDROIT, which is a sponsoring group of the Cape Town Convention, will hold a Governing Council meeting in May 2013 to consider a Fourth Protocol. The treaty is termed Cape Town Convention in recognition of Cape Town, South Africa, the host city of the diplomatic conference in 2001 at which the treaty was concluded.