Between 1967-2016, the Emergency Committee for American Trade was a U.S. trade body representing U.S.-based international business enterprises from the principal sectors of the U.S. economy.. In its heydey, ECAT was one of the most powerful of all trade representation bodies for the private sector in the United States alongside the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In that context, ECAT played a significant role in international negotiations. Most ECAT staff were former trade diplomats at the USTR, which is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States. In 2016, ECAT dissolved. .
History
ECAT was founded in 1967 by a consortium of American CEOs, who were interested in forwarding free trade and in curbing the trend towards protectionism in U.S. political circles. Arthur Watson, CEO of IBM was the founding President of ECAT. Watson was joined by a group of U.S. CEOs including David Rockefeller, George Moor, William Hewitt, Robert Ingersoll, James Linen, David Packard, Peter Peterson, Rudoph Peterson John Powers Jr., James Roche, Thomas Taylor, Charles B. Thornton, Joseph Wilson, William Allen, George Ball, William Blackey, Hal Dean, Henry Ford, J. Peter Grace and Patrick Haggerty. On July 24, 1968, Rep. Windnall published a statement from Mr. Rockfeller in the Congressional Record, "Compete or Retreat: Speech of David Rockefeller to the Southern Governors Conference", in which Rockefeller explained why ECAT has been founded, and its philosophy and early work on trade policy and import quotas. In December 2016, ECAT President Calman Cohen stated that ECAT would dissolve on his retirement.
In recent decades, ECAT has not published their membership lists. In 2015, an ECAT press-release stated that, "ECAT is an organization of the heads of leading U.S. international business enterprises representing all major sectors of the American economy, with annual worldwide sales exceeding $2.7 trillion and with employment exceeding 6.5 million workers." In 2017, it's known that Rex Tillerson was a Member of ECAT, in his capacity as Chairman of ExxonMobil, until 2017. Mr. Harold "Terry" McGraw III, the Chairman of ECAT for 2008-2020, is also chairman of the board of McGraw Hill Financial and Chairman of the Executive Board of the International Chamber of Commerce.
Functions
ECAT provided a trade outreach program for the private sector, and represents the U.S. business community before Congressional committees. It provides the private sector with facilitated contact with members of Congress and Administration officials. ECAT routinely made inputs to House and Senate hearings on trade and investment affairs. ECAT had many links to senior Congressional staff, notably to the Senate Finance Committee. The Agenda for ECAT addressed all facets of U.S. Trade.
In 1968, , former economic assistant to Rep. Thomas B. Curtis registered the Emergency Committee for American Trade as a lobbyist organization. In 1969, ECAT gained exempt status, and filed as a 501 organization.
Dissolution with Cohen retirement
The President of ECAT at the time of closure was . In December 2016, ECAT President Calman Cohen stated that ECAT would dissolve on his retirement, stating, *“With the change in the leadership of our country about to take place and after several decades of addressing issues of critical importance to our country, I believe the time is right for me to begin that new chapter in my life,” Cohen said in a statement to Inside U.S. Trade.". Calman noted that “The Emergency Committee for American Trade’s mission remains as important as ever,” he added. “The Committee was established by a number of U.S. business leaders at a time when the rise of protectionism threatened a worldwide trade war.""
