This is a guest opinion column

This month, the U.S. government announced substantial cuts to American foreign aid projects, terminating 90 percent of the contracts issued by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The impact of this decision was immediate, both at home and abroad, leaving many wondering what will happen to the terminated programs.

To understand the true impacts of cutting U.S. foreign aid, particularly here in Alabama, we first must understand the true impact of global trade.

Ninety-five percent of the world’s population lives outside the United States. In other words, six billion of the world’s consumers live outside the United States.

Trade is essential to the success of American companies and job creation as it allows companies to tap into the huge consumer markets that exist abroad. Reaching those six billion consumers and boosting foreign sales for American companies requires many processes — adequate training, mutual understanding and strong international partnerships.

In Alabama, more than 530,000 jobs are supported by trade, which makes up nearly 20 percent of all jobs in the state. Alabama companies exported $27.4 billion in goods in 2023, and the majority of those companies were small- and medium-sized businesses.

My organization, the North Alabama International Trade Association, helps companies in Northern Alabama expand their foreign sales through education and training. Still, no amount of education or training can replace the vital role the government plays in fostering international trade and collaboration, in part through foreign aid.

The U.S. government uses strategic international assistance and diplomacy to strengthen institutions abroad, fight corruption and open new markets for American companies. These efforts stabilize economic landscapes and consumer markets, making lucrative trade relationships possible. It is much easier to trade with a peaceful, stable country than a country at war.

Cutting foreign aid suspends these important efforts and leaves American companies susceptible to economic instability and market volatility abroad.

For this reason, the effects of foreign aid cuts on business will be felt right here at home. In Alabama alone, state-based organizations stand to lose a total of $101 million from discontinued USAID contracts and assistance.

Alabama’s fifth-largest foreign export market is South Korea, which offers an ideal model of the benefits of international assistance. When USAID was founded, South Korea was still grappling with the fallout of the Korean War and had a weak and unstable economy. Targeted assistance from the United States helped transform South Korea’s economy and stabilize the country to become a global leader and reliable trade partner for American businesses.

Today, the United States directly benefits from the economic success of South Korea, which we helped create. In 2024, the United States exported $91.3 billion worth of goods to South Korea. These are dollars that flow directly into American jobs, businesses and pockets.

Our country’s successful economic partnership with South Korea may never have come to fruition without U.S. foreign assistance. Cutting off foreign aid to strategic regions today may prevent the creation of similar trade partnerships that could provide new markets and benefits to American companies in the future.

Moreover, the absence of American assistance and economic development creates an opportunity for our competitors to strengthen their own relationships with strategic regions and reap the economic benefits of those relationships for themselves. There’s no doubt that foreign competitors such as China will swoop in to fill the void of American leadership. The result for Americans will be simple: we lose, in multiple ways.

I can understand the need to reform U.S. foreign aid and ensure that American funds are being used wisely and efficiently. However, those reforms should be targeted and thorough to ensure we retain the programs that directly benefit the American economy, security and stability.

Alabama businesses and employees depend on the stable markets that foreign aid creates. For the good of our economy, I hope that our leaders will maintain American leadership abroad and continue to foster critical partnerships using foreign assistance.

Anne Burkett serves as executive director of the North Alabama International Trade Association (NAITA) and chair of the Alabama District Export Council. She has more than 35 years of experience in international trade development.