United Parcel Service Inc. Chief Executive David Abney is pushing for Congress to pass a new Asian trade agreement by the end of the year, saying that if the U.S. doesn't act now it will be left in the dust.

"We have a choice. We can lead the way as a country and embrace this global economy we live in. Or we can focus more on the challenge versus the opportunity and have some other country create jobs for their employees and create jobs for their companies," Mr. Abney said in an interview.

If the U.S. doesn't take action, he warned, Asian nations will sign their own trade agreements. "We would much rather see the U.S. involved in setting the standard for trade with Asia, than to have China do it," he said. "Other countries aren't sitting by if we pass up on this opportunity."

UPS and FedEx Corp. executives have become more outspoken on the benefits of free trade in recent weeks as President Barack Obama's signature Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement is looking increasingly unlikely to receive congressional passage either after the election or under the next administration. Both major parties back presidential candidates who have said they would spurn it, although Obama administration officials in recent weeks have argued that there is still a path forward.

If the agreement doesn't go through, it may mute the prospect of trade, while it would likely accelerate trade if it is passed, said Jack Atkins, a transportation analyst with Stephens Inc. Although it is hard to quantify, it "would benefit both FedEx and UPS."

Mr. Abney said that trade agreements in the past have resulted in a 20% increase in exports to that country, on average. "Trade is not the demon that sometimes people think it is," he said, adding that every 22 international packages that either enter or leave the U.S. supports a UPS job.

The bill specifically targets improvements for small and midsize companies that currently struggle with red tape, paperwork, tariffs and customs, Mr. Abney said. It also focuses on current issues with e-commerce, as well as setting labor, health and safety and environmental standards.

"One of the big focuses on e-commerce is how to eliminate a lot of that red tape and just make it easier for them to ship," he said. It also addresses intellectual property and other concerns around that business.

Supporters of the trade agreement say that failing to ratify the deal would represent a further retreat from U.S. leadership on the international stage, upending a pillar of Mr. Obama's foreign-policy pivot toward Asia. Opponents say the deal would tilt the playing field too heavily toward large multinational corporations.

FedEx's Michael Ducker, chief of the company's freight division, in a recent interview echoed Mr. Abney's concern that giving up on the deal will leave the U.S. behind and said that U.S. supporters need to do a better job of extolling the benefits. He said that 41 million U.S. jobs are currently supported by trade.

"There's no perfect trade agreement, but the huge advantages that come from the trade agreements we have, the benefits from the jobs market that accrue to small and medium-sized enterprises are tremendous," he said.

"Countries are going to trade. They are forced to by their customers. Other countries are not going to stand by and wait for us," he added.

Nick Timiraos contributed to this article.

Write to Laura Stevens at laura.stevens@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 15, 2016 21:25 ET (01:25 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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