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On March 11, 2010, President Obama established the Export Promotion Cabinet by Executive Order 13534 and tasked them with a plan to achieve the goal of doubling U. S. exports in five years that he had stated in his 2010 State of the Union address.

Sixteen representatives from the Secretary of State down to the Director of the United States Trade and Development Agency were appointed to this Cabinet, but the final report, released on September 15, 2010, was the product of an intensive six-month collaboration between this Cabinet and the 20 federal agencies that make up the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee (TPCC).  In addition, the TPCC Secretariat reviewed over 175 responses to a Federal Register notice requesting input to the National Export Initiative (NEI) from small, medium, and large businesses; trade associations; academia; labor unions; and state and local governments.

In 2008, U. S. exports represented records levels of GDP (12.7 percent) and supported over 10 million jobs (6.9 percent of fully employed workers).  This was the highest percentage level of GDP since the beginning of World War I in 1914 and marked the high point of a 70-year trend that began in the early 1930s.  However, exports fell from $1.8 trillion in 2008 to $1.57 trillion in 2009 during the recession.

The report states:  “The National Export Initiative (NEI) is a key component of the President’s plan to help the United States transition form the legacy of the most severe financial and economic crisis in generations to a sustained recovery …The NEI’s goal of doubling exports over five years is ambitious.  Exports need to grow from $1.57 trillion in 2009 to $3.14 trillion by 2015.”

The NEI has five components:  improve advocacy and trade promotion, increase access to export financing, remove barriers to trade, enforce current trade rules, and promote strong, sustainable, and balanced growth.

The NEI Executive Order identified eight priorities for the plan, and the Export Promotion Cabinet developed recommendations to address each of these priorities, which cover all five components, cut across many Federal Government agencies, and focus on areas where concerted Federal Government efforts can help lift exports.  The following are recommendations for each priority:

Priority 1:  Exports by Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) – advocacy, promotion and export financing component

1. Help identify SMEs that can begin or expand exporting through a national campaign to increase SME awareness of export opportunities and U. S. Government resources.
2. Prepare SMEs to export successfully by increasing training opportunities for both SMEs and SME counselors.
3. Connect SMEs to export opportunities by expanding access to programs and events that can unite U. S. sellers and foreign buyers.
4. Once SMEs have export opportunities, support them with a number of initiatives, including improving awareness of export finance programs.

Priority 2:  Federal Export Assistance – trade promotion component

1. Create more opportunities for U. S. sellers to meet directly wit foreign buyers by bringing more foreign buyer delegations to U. S. trade shows and encourage more U. S. companies to participate in major international trade shows.
2. Improve cooperation between TPCC agencies to encourage U. S. green technology companies to export by matching foreign buyers with U. S. producers.

Priority 3:  Trade Missions – trade promotion component

1. Increase the number of trade and reverse trade missions, including missions led by senior U. S. government officials.
2. Improve coordination with state government trade offices and national trade associations.

Priority 4:  Commercial Advocacy – trade promotion component

Leverage multiple agencies assistance in the advocacy process and extend outreach efforts to make more U. S. companies aware of the Federal Government’s advocacy program.

Priority 5:  Increasing Export Credit – export financing

1. Make more credit available through existing credit platforms and new products.
2. Increase outreach to exporters, foreign buyers bankers, and other entities in order to build awareness of Government assistance.
3. Make it easier for exporters and other customers to use Government credit programs by streamlining applications and internal processes.

Priority 6:  Macroeconomic Rebalancing – strong, sustainable, and more balanced global growth

In the short term, the U. S. and its G-20 partners must work to ensure that the global economy shifts smoothly to more diversified sources of economic growth.  Over the long term, shifts in the composition of economic growth in our trading partners will also be crucial to U. S. export growth.  Actions to reduce surpluses and stimulate domestic demand for imports will be required by a broad range of countries.

Priority 7:  Reducing Barriers to Trade – removing trade barriers and enforcing trade obligations components

1. Conclude an ambitious, balanced, and successful WTO Doha Round that achieves meaningful new market access in agriculture, goods, and services.
2. Conclude the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement to expand access to key markets in the Asia-Pacific region,
3. Resolve remaining issues with pending FTAs, such as the United States – Korea FTA.
4. Address foreign trade barriers – especially significant non-tariff barriers – through use of a wide range of U. S. trade policy tools.
5. Use robust monitoring and enforcement of WTO trade rules and other U. S. trade agreements.

Priority 8:  Export Promotion of Services – advocacy and trade promotion components

1. Build on the activities and initiatives outlined in Priorities 1 – 7 with enhanced focus on the services sector since it accounts for nearly70 percent of U. S. GDP.
2. Ensure better data and measurement of the services economy to inform commercial decision-making and policy planning.
3. Continue to assess and focus on key growth sectors and emerging markets such as China, India, and Brazil; increasing the number of foreign visitors to the U. S.
4. Better coordinate services export promotion efforts.

There are four general themes that apply to all of the priorities and recommendations in order to achieve the goal of doubling the U. S. exports in five years:

1. Strengthen interagency information sharing and coordination.
2. Leverage and enhance technology to reach potential exporters and provide U. S. businesses with the tools necessary to export successfully.
3. Leverage combined efforts of State and local governments and public-private partnerships.
4. Have united goals for TPCC member agencies to support the NEI’s implementation

The plan admits that the Federal Government alone cannot succeed in this initiative; its ultimate success will be determined by the success of U. S. companies selling their goods and services internationally.  A continued dialogue with the business community will be required to help ensure that the NEI is addressing their export challenges.

On December 7, 2010, U. S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced the establishment of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Export Initiative as part of its National Export Initiative and Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee.  “Expanding U. S. clean technology exports is a crucial step to ensuring America’s economic competitiveness in the years ahead,” said Secretary Chu.  “The initiatives we are announcing today will provide us with a better understanding of the global clean energy marketplace and help boost U. S. exports.”

The Initiative is divided into two parts:  (a) an assessment of the current competitiveness of U. S. renewable energy and energy efficient goods and services and (b) an action plan of new commitments that facilitate private sector efforts to significantly increase U. S. renewable energy and energy efficient exports within five years.  As part of the Initiative, the Administration created www.export.gov/reee, a web portal that consolidates information on government-sponsored export promotion programs.

The next article will examine whether or not the plan will work to achieve the stated goal.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 4th, 2011 at 4:57 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.