The creation of the Consumer Dialogue in 1998 was intended to expand on the already existing contacts between our governments, our regulators, and our consumer groups and to address the new consumer challenges in transatlantic relations posed by globalization. Your activities are representative of a much broader trend toward the emergence of a global civil society. Global economic integration and freer international trade offers tremendous benefits for consumers. As an economist, I have been trained to evaluate an economy's performance based on its success in maximizing consumer welfare. The trend toward greater and freer world trade has brought many benefits to citizens of the United States and the European Union, as well as most other countries.
Consumers benefit from lower prices, greater selection, and often better quality and product safety.
The great advances in auto safety, quality and fuel efficiency in the past two decades were spurred by many factors, including the work of consumer advocates and government regulators. The pressure of foreign competition spurred U.S. manufacturers to improve the safety, quality, and fuel efficiency of their vehicles. While freer trade is not, by itself, an adequate consumer policy, I hope in your work you will give full recognition to the contribution that freer trade makes to consumer well-being. We value the input provided by the TACD as we work to address consumer interests. Over the next several days, there will be detailed discussion of the recommendations of your working groups, but I would like to touch on a few briefly.