Commerce Secretary outlines National Export Initiative
05 Feb '10
5 min read
And Export-Import's increased activity will dovetail with the administration's other credit expansion efforts, including President Obama's recent proposal to redirect $30 billion in repaid TARP loans to boost lending to small businesses.
More Resources for Export Promotion Efforts
There is nearly $80 million in new funding in the FY2011 budget for the Commerce Department's International Trade Administration [ITA], increasing its allocation to $540 million. Those new resources will allow ITA to:
• Bring on as many as 328 trade experts to serve as advocates for U.S. companies;
• Assist more than 23,000 clients to begin or grow their export sales in 2011;
• Put a special focus on increasing, the number of small and medium-sized businesses exporting to more than one market by 50 percent over the next five years.
• Increase their presence in emerging high-growth markets like China, India and Brazil;
• And develop a comprehensive strategy to identify market opportunities in fast-growing sectors like environmental goods and services, renewable energy, healthcare and biotechnology
Under the NEI, the 2011 budget also allocates $54 million to enhance the U.S. Department of Agriculture's export promotion activities. In practice, that's going to result in more technical assistance to help farmers sell specialty crops, more foreign country promotions extolling U.S. commodities and more direct assistance helping our farmers develop new foreign markets and increase market share in existing markets.
Crucially, this is a job multiplier. Every $1 billion in agricultural exports supports more than 9,000 jobs and generates an additional $1.4 billion in economic activity. These jobs are both on the farm and off, in urban and rural communities, across many communities and professions.
Improving Access to Foreign Markets
The National Export Initiative directs the government to continue its efforts to remove barriers that prevent U.S. companies from getting free and fair access to foreign markets – including combating unfair tariff and non-tariff barriers and addressing practices that blatantly harm U.S. companies.
This administration will pursue trade agreements that are balanced, ambitious and improve market access for U.S. workers, firms, farmers and ranchers.
Trade starts with the understanding that it only works in a system of rules where all parties live up to their obligations. The United States is committed to a rules-based trading system where the American people – and the Congress – can feel confident that when we sign an agreement that gives foreign countries the privilege of free and fair access to our domestic market, we are going to be treated the same.
The Department of Commerce, through the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee (TPCC), leads the administration's trade promotion efforts and will help operationalize the National Export Initiative. This interagency group is chaired by the Secretary of Commerce to establish trade promotion priorities to expand trade and create jobs for Americans. The TPCC provides a platform for the Secretary of Commerce to advance a government-wide agenda on trade promotion and to directly engage the heads of other TPCC agencies. The Export Promotion Cabinet will coordinate with the TPCC.
Commerce's International Trade Administration (ITA) helps American companies export their products and services around the world, utilizing some 1,500 U.S. Commercial Service staff stationed in 77 countries across the globe.
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