Jan-Feb 2010 ITU
- Table of Contents
- Full Issue in PDF
- U.S. Export Position Improves as National Export Initiative Marks One Year
- Answering the Call to Double U.S. Exports
- In Chile, a Sense of National Unity and Opportunities for U.S. Businesses
- New Web Portal Helps Companies Protect Intellectual Property Rights
- Short Takes
- Trade Calendar
- Featured Trade Event: Trade Mission to Qatar and United Arab Emirates
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U.S. Export Position Improves as National Export Initiative Marks One Year
Francisco Sánchez, under secretary of commerce for international trade (shown here at an event last year), spoke on January 27, 2010, at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., at the one-year anniversary of the National Export Initiative. (photo courtesy U.S.–India Business Council)
Improved coordination among federal agencies, aggressive outreach and assistance to potential exporters, and an ambitious program of trade promotion to expanding overseas markets are bringing concrete results as the National Export Initiative marks its first anniversary.
January 27, 2011, marked the one-year anniversary of President Barack Obama's National Export Initiative (NEI), which plans to double U.S. exports by 2015 and to create millions of new jobs. And after only 12 months, there are encouraging signs that those goals are within reach. In 2010, U.S. exports of goods and services showed their strongest percent growth in more than 20 years, expanding by nearly 17 percent over 2009.
"Our economy is picking up steam as we head into this new year," noted Francisco Sánchez, under secretary of commerce for international trade, in a speech he gave to business leaders at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., on January 27. "Exports have been an especially bright spot in this story. It is an encouraging sign that as we dust ourselves off from the recession, we are not looking backwards but with clarity toward the future."
A Year of Export Promotion
Thus far, NEI's efforts have focused on five key areas: improving trade advocacy and export promotion efforts; increasing access to credit; removing barriers for U.S. goods and services abroad; enforcing trade rules; and pursuing policies that promote strong, sustainable, and balanced growth.
At the Department of Commerce, this focus has created intense activity in the pursuit of export growth, including:
- Engaging in commercial advocacy worth $18.7 billion in U.S. export content, which supported an estimated 101,000 jobs
- Coordinating 35 trade missions to 31 countries, with the participation of nearly 400 U.S. companies, which resulted in an anticipated $2 billion in increased exports
- Helping more than 5,500 U.S. companies complete a successful export
- Recruiting nearly 13,000 foreign buyers to major U.S. trade shows, thereby facilitating approximately $770 million in successful exports
- Resolving more than 82 trade barriers in 45 countries that were affecting many U.S. industries
A Multiyear Effort
In his speech, Sánchez detailed the efforts for NEI's second year. Those areas include improving awareness of the benefits of trade, especially among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); expanding the New Market Exporter Initiative; and finalizing pending trade agreements.
As part of this continuing effort, Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke announced a national tour that he will lead this year, "New Markets, New Jobs: The National Export Initiative Small Business Tour." The tour will be an interagency, multicity outreach campaign designed to help connect SMEs with the resources they need to sell more products and services overseas.
"We stand at an important crossroads," noted Sánchez. "The NEI contributed to the success of the past year, but it is not a one-year program. We are just getting started."
For More Information
The "New Markets, New Jobs: The National Export Initiative Small Business Tour" is designed to help achieve President Obama's goal of doubling exports in the next five years to support the creation of several million new jobs. To learn more about upcoming tour dates and locations, visit www.export.gov/newmarketsnewjobs.
Every day, the International Trade Administration works to promote the growth of U.S. exports. In the following sections of this month's newsletter are stories that detail some of those ongoing efforts, including person-to-person counseling that is available from trade specialists at the Trade Information Center in Washington, D.C.; expertise offered by Mitch Larsen, one of ITA's commercial officers in Santiago, Chile; and ITA's successful collaboration with the European Union in bringing online a valuable business information resource on the protection of intellectual property rights.
The International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, manages this global trade site to provide access to ITA information on promoting trade and investment, strengthening the competitiveness of U.S. industry, and ensuring fair trade and compliance with trade laws and agreements. External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein. This site contains PDF documents. A PDF reader is available from Adobe Systems Incorporated.