A new study by Business Roundtable found that international trade supports about 371,000 Kansas jobs. Business Roundtable is a group of CEOs from America's largest companies. The group advocates for free-trade agreements with Panama, Colombia and South Korea.
The report estimates Kansas exported over $12 billion worth of goods in 2012. About $5.4 billion of the goods were sold to countries with which the United States has free-trade agreements.
Only about 19,800 of the Kansas jobs tied to trade in 2011 were in the manufacturing sector. Most jobs- about 68,600 of them- were in consumer services.
Steve Kelly of the Kansas Department of Commerce says additional free-trade agreements could make it easier for Kansans to sell overseas.
