Cascade Designs President Joe McSwiney recently spoke on behalf of U.S. manufacturers at an event meant to galvanize U.S. support for the World Trade Organization’s Environmental Goods Agreement, a major new initiative to eliminate barriers to trade in green technologies.
The event was hosted by the Coalition for Green Trade and led by senior government
officials including Ambassador Michael Froman (U.S. Trade
Representative), Senator Ron Wyden (Chairman, Senate Finance Committee),
and Representative Dave Camp (Chairman, Ways and Means).
McSwiney was invited to speak about how the EGA would benefit a U.S. manufacturer. Under the EGA, Cascade Designs could export, tariff-free, water filtration and purification products for the outdoor recreation and global health markets.
“The tariff reductions afforded by the EGA will greatly enhance the global reach of our new water purification technology,” said McSwiney. “More importantly, it will accelerate trade in environmental product in general, enabling us to leverage green technology in more applications, increase jobs, and ultimately make a greater difference in global health.”
Cascade Designs has partnered with PATH, World Vision, and Laird Norton Family Foundation, global health non-profit organizations, to develop a new water purification device–the MSR Smart Electrochlorinator (SE200)–to bring clean water to populations around the world. Recently approved for commercialization, the coffee mug-sized SE200 revolutionizes water treatment by using only a 12-volt car battery and salt to create a precise chlorine solution in just five minutes, which then can treat 55 gallons of water. It’s simple, reliable, safe and cost-effective design empowers communities with a sustainable means to creating safe drinking water.
Fourteen economies–accounting for 86 percent of global trade–are negotiating the Environmental Goods Agreement to eliminate tariffs on environmental technologies, such as wind turbines, water treatment filters, and solar water heaters, which can run as high as 35 percent and pose a significant barrier to trade for U.S. companies.
As President Obama said last year when he announced the Climate Action Plan, there is no contradiction between a sound environment and strong economic growth,” remarked Ambassador Froman. ” By removing barriers to global trade in environmental goods, we can promote technologies that allow better access to safe water, sanitation, and clean energy we can encourage countries to adopt strategies for sustainable development and help drive innovation that could lead to even cleaner technologies. And the best part is… we can do all of this while helping to support American jobs.”
Cascade Designs partners in global health and disaster preparedness include PATH, World Vision, Laird Norton Family Foundation, DARPA, and the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate.
Founded in 1972,Seattle-based Cascade manufactures the majority of products in their Seattle and Cork, Ireland. While well known in outdoor recreation circles for its MSR, Platypus, SealLine and Therm-a-Rest brands, Cascade Designs has also successfully expanded into making products for Medical, Military, Global Health and Disaster Preparedness markets
