March 2011 ITU
- Table of Contents
- Full Issue in PDF
- Small Businesses Urged to Grow through Exporting
- For a Small Pennsylvania Company, Department of Commerce Program Helps Guarantee an International Sale
- New Agreement and Bilateral Talks Signal Continued Growth of U.S.–Turkish Commercial Ties
- Short Takes
- Trade Calendar
- Featured Trade Event: Eurasian Oil and Gas Suppliers Trade Mission
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Short Takes: News from the International Trade Administration
Exporting Brings Financial Benefits to U.S. Manufacturing Firms
U.S. manufacturers can find increased revenue stability, and reduced volatility, through overseas sales, according to a paper recently published by the International Trade Administration’s Office of Competition and Economic Analysis.
The paper, “The Impact of Exporting on the Stability of U.S. Manufacturing Industries,” by ITA staff economists David Riker and Brandon Thurner, attempts to determine whether the added risks and unpredictability associated with exporting outweigh the increase in expected revenues. Manufacturing is a vital export sector of the U.S. economy. In 2010, the United States exported $873.4 billion of manufactured goods, an increase of 17.5 percent over 2009. These exports support more than 3 million U.S. jobs.
The paper examines the link between exporting and the economic stability of the U.S. manufacturing sector in two ways. First, it analyzes the 2000–2009 revenues reported in the public financial statements of Xerox and Dow Chemical, two U.S. companies with substantial non–U.S. sales. Second, it analyzes the industry-level shipments data for 85 industries in the U.S. manufacturing sector as reported in the Census Bureau’s Annual Survey of Manufactures and the Economic Censuses for 2000 through 2008.
According to the authors, “both the company case studies and the industry-level analysis of the U.S. manufacturing sector indicate that non–U.S. sales, including exports from the United States, reduce the normalized volatility of the value of total shipments of U.S. manufacturers.”
The new study is available for downloading from the ITA’s Web site at www.trade.gov/publications.
Increased Cross-Border Trade with Canada and Mexico Is Focus of New Strategy
Francisco Sánchez (center right), under secretary of commerce for international trade, at the Renewable Energy/International Trade Roundtable held in Tijuana, Mexico, on March 1, 2010. During his visit, he spoke about the new Border Export Strategy. (U.S. Department of Commerce photo)
The first step of a new initiative to promote U.S. exports to Canada and Mexico from bordering U.S. communities, the Border Export Strategy, was announced by Francisco Sánchez, under secretary for international trade, on February 28, 2011, at a meeting with the San Diego–Imperial Valley (California) trade community.
At an international trade roundtable held the next day in Tijuana, Mexico, Sánchez noted the importance of border areas to the economies of all three countries: “The economic ties which bind us as North American neighbors are strong. And as the gateways to North American trade, the border regions provide unique opportunities and distinct challenges for U.S. companies seeking to export goods and services.”
The strategy is a component of the National Export Initiative (NEI), a program announced by President Barack Obama in 2010 that advances the president’s goal of doubling U.S. exports by 2015. The Border Export Strategy will focus on specific areas of potential collaboration with Canada and Mexico.
Overall, the NEI is focused on (a) improving trade advocacy and export promotion efforts; (b) increasing access to credit, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises; (c) removing barriers to the sale of U.S. goods and services abroad; (d) robustly enforcing trade rules; and (e) pursuing policies at the global level to promote strong, sustainable, and balanced growth.
This initial step of the Border Export Strategy focuses on U.S. exports to Mexico from the Southwest border states of Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas. In 2010 these four states accounted for $98.9 billion of U.S. exports of goods to Mexico. Overall, the United States exported $163.3 billion in goods to Mexico in 2010, compared to $128.9 billion in 2009, an increase of 27 percent. Major industry sectors included electrical machinery, machinery, and vehicles.
The International Trade Administration offers export promotion assistance to U.S. companies in the Southwest border region through its field offices in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas (see list). For more information about exporting to Mexico, or to obtain additional export assistance, contact the Trade Information Center, tel.: 1-800-USA-TRADE (1-800-872-8723), or visit www.export.gov.
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