Trade is essential to Dow’s operations. We manufacture products in 31 countries and sell to 170 countries globally. More than 30% of Dow’s U.S. production is exported, supporting 30% of our American workforce, and reliably fueling customers’ production around the world. Dow supports free and fair trade policies that provide opportunities for all countries to increase their standard of living, expand consumer choice, and improve access to education and job opportunities.
Trade liberalization efforts are critical to ensure access to sustainable technologies and products; raise living standards and create high-value career opportunities; support supply chain resiliency; and increase consumer choice worldwide. Free trade policies enable access to goods, services, and technologies that grow domestic markets, particularly in emerging countries. Market access and fair treatment for investments facilitate access to feedstocks and enable investment in sustainable manufacturing environments. Ultimately, this access brings growth, prosperity, and innovation to countries and citizens worldwide.
Dow’s Policy Position
Dow supports the global, rules-based trading system, as embodied in the World Trade Organization (WTO), to foster economic growth and sustainable development around the world. However, over the past decade, the WTO itself has struggled to bring meaningful multilateral commitments. Dow continues to support the value-add that the WTO brings – both as a center for multilateral dispute resolution and currently as driver of plurilateral agreements including the outcomes of the May 2022 12th Ministerial Conference which renewed the moratorium on e-commerce duties and committed members to a work plan on reform. Dow supports the ICCA WTO Modernization recommendations that outline key opportunities for WTO to renew leadership on multilateral trade rules including focus on:
- Support plurilateral initiatives including advancing discussions on trade & environment practices.
- Ensuring greater transparency and stakeholder engagement.
- Prioritizing efforts to prevent non-tariff trade barriers including supporting capacity building on regulatory cooperation.
- ICCA-WTO-Modernization-Position-Paper.pdf (icca-chem.org)
Our Actions
Dow welcomes efforts by all governments to address unfair trade practices and to promote trade liberalization at the bilateral, regional, and multilateral levels. As a global company, we are leading engagement on promoting multilateral approaches to trade, where a common set of enforceable rules can ensure a level playing field and restore competition based on quality not discriminatory policy. Dow will continue to drive meaningful progress on trade including:
- Eliminating tariffs and non-tariff barriers to trade, especially promoting sound science risk based regulatory systems.
- Facilitating trade including streamlined and efficient customs procedures.
- Leveraging trade to enable access to environmental technologies and innovative investment that solves societal challenges.
- Supporting progress at the WTO including reform actions and a progressive negotiating agenda.
- Leading the chemical industry’s advocacy in support of regulatory cooperation through an International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA) effort designed to encourage risk-based, sound science approaches to chemicals management.
- Driving Dow specific interests in a range of key agreements and full implementation of existing agreements such as USMCA.
- Building relationships with stakeholders involved in trade discussions, from governments to our customers, to advocate for trade around the world that improves people's lives and enables sustainable development.
Last revised December 2022