Emergency Committee for American Trade

[1] In its heyday, 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.

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.

Pfizer & co., Inc), James Roche (General Moters Corp), Thomas Taylor (International Packers, Ltd.), Charles B. Thornton (Litton Industries, Inc.), Joseph Wilson (Xerox Corp), William Allen (Boeing), George Ball (Lehman Brothers International), William Blackey (Caterpillar Tractor Co.), Hal Dean (Ralston Purina Co.), Henry Ford (Ford Motor Company), J. Peter Grace (W.R. Grace and Co.) and Patrick Haggerty (Texas Instruments Inc.).

Cohen led the organization for more than 20 years and was active in pressing ECAT's objectives on Capitol Hill and successive administrations.

[13] As a business association, ECAT worked with its member companies to advocate for trade and investment policies, legislation, and other measures that supported its mission.

In 2015, the Sunlight Foundation said that "Cohen, who joined in 1981 after working as the congressional liaison at the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the government organization charged with negotiating trade agreements to create “higher living standards for families, farmers, manufacturers, workers, consumers, and businesses.” [18] 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.

“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.""