WASHINGTON, D.C. – On April 6, Trevor Myers, president and CEO of Cloyes Gear and Products Inc., testified before the House Small Business Committee on behalf of his company, as well as the Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association (AASA) and the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA), in support of pending U.S. Free Trade Agreements with South Korea, Columbia and Panama. His testimony was given at a hearing entitled “Help Wanted: How Passing Free Trade Agreements Will Help Small Businesses Create New Jobs.” Cloyes Gear and Products Inc. is a member of MEMA’s affiliate organizations AASA and the Original Equipment Suppliers Association (OESA).

“Cloyes employees know they are competing in a highly competitive global marketplace, and export business for Cloyes is growing rapidly,” Myers stated in his testimony. “In addition, the company has benefitted greatly from NAFTA, which has allowed us to freely sell original equipment and aftermarket goods to Mexico. Sales of goods to Mexico produced by its U.S. workforce have grown approximately 25 percent per year.

“Trade with South Korea is particularly important to a company such as Cloyes,” Myers continued. “We began selling advanced engine components to Korea in October 2010 – a new system for the company that employs approximately 30 U.S. hourly employees.

“Additionally, engines utilizing Cloyes’s components are shipped to China, Thailand, Australia and South America,” Myers stated. “Good trade relations are essential to future growth of additional new programs and we urge Congress to consider and ratify all three pending trade agreements.”