(The following story by John D. Boyd appeared on the The Journal of Commerce website on June 2, 2010.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Obama’s goal of doubling U.S. exports within five years generated a set of nation-specific marketing plans, according to a senior U.S. trade official.
Francisco Sanchez, undersecretary for international trade at the Commerce Department, said “we are developing commercial engagement strategies for Brazil, India, China, Vietnam, South Africa and other nations” as part of Obama’s National Export Initiative.
“We have developed plans on where we want to be in these markets in five years’ time, including dealing with trade barriers,” Sanchez told the Washington (D.C.) Trade Association in a June 2 speech.
The Commerce official said although the five-year goal is to double U.S. exports and support 2 million jobs, that will start a longer strategy “to reposition America’s strategic outlook” toward commercial opportunities to reach the 95 percent of consumers outside the U.S.
Exports have already been helping U.S. manufacturers and suppliers of agricultural products rebound this year from the severe 2008-2009 recession, as their sales abroad have grown robustly while many still see sluggish domestic mariets. The Institute for Supply Management this week said U.S. factories saw export demand rise during May, even as import activity slowed.
Sanchez said Commerce plans to build on that start. “I have implemented a 12-month plan that refocuses the degree to which the International Trade Administration (at Commerce) works with companies that are new to exporting,” he said.
In addition, the effort aims to expand the focus of U.S. firms that already sell abroad, as Sanchez said 58 percent of U.S. exporters sell only to a single country’s market.
Meanwhile, the administration is trying to harvest near-term benefits from the strategy. “We are also moving to focus more on targeted industries and markets to accelerate exports now, to create jobs in order to add momentum to the recovery,” he said.
The administration previously said it would leverage business contacts of the U.S. Postal Service plus private carriers FedEx and UPS, to make sure exporters they serve are also aware of U.S. export-promotion programs. Sanchez said that effort is well under way.
“By the end of this summer, we will train the entire international sales forces of these three companies on the services ITA can provide to their exporting clients,” he said.