If the middle class has yet to embrace and fight for our nation’s badly needed trade agreements that will provide scores of new jobs while giving up very little in return, part of the blame must go to trade supporters who have been unable to articulate their vision in a passionate and reassuring way.

Most often the spokespeople debating for the free-trade agenda are seen as aloof and out of touch. They come from the boardrooms of Fortune 500 companies, Wall Street, and elitist Washington think tanks. Although their intensions are good, they have been easy targets to discredit by the media because of their ties to corporate motives. Small and medium-sized companies are the backbone of the American economy and have not been given a voice. They are responsible for over 70 percent of American exports. It will be they that eventually correct our trade deficit through booming exports. It is their voice the American people desperately need to hear.

As an American entrepreneur and exporter, I would welcome the opportunity to set the record straight with two modest proposals: It’s time for America to wake up and give small and medium-sized companies the support they need to revitalize U.S. exports because the world should be reminded that  it should never bet against American ingenuity. They will lose. The second thing I propose is to give us more comprehensive trade agreements, and we will put to work millions of our citizens.