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Volume 16, Issue 222
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Friday, November 6, 2009
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Commerce Secretary Outlines Strategies for Increasing Exports
In a Nov. 4 speech to the National District Export Council Conference, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke outlined the following five strategies for increasing U.S. exports.
Boosting Trade Promotion Activities. “Less than one percent of America’s 30 million companies export—a percentage that is significantly lower than all other developed countries,” Locke said. “And of U.S. companies that do export, 58 percent export to only one country.” The DOC will therefore work to get more companies engaged with its commercial service corps, which includes a trade promotion office staffed with some 1,500 people in 77 countries.
Business Visa Reform. “The United States often makes it too difficult for foreign company executives to enter here to do business—a shortcoming that has had a tangible cost for American businesses by shutting out some of their best customers,” Locke asserted. While there has been “tentative progress” on improving this situation, Locke said he has created a “departmental task force that will keep national security paramount while working to further improve the business visa process.”
Export Controls. “Our current export control system was designed in the 1950s,” Locke said, but today “our global economy is far larger and more integrated, and nations’ economic and security interests are more nuanced.” As a result, U.S. companies are being “shut out of promising markets and promising partnerships with foreign companies” because “the undeniable appeal of U.S. technology is often outweighed by the time and effort foreign companies must endure to obtain it.”
In response, Locke has directed the Bureau of Industry and Security to immediately explore two reforms: eliminating dual-use export license requirements for allies and partner nations, and implementing a fast-track procedure for the review of dual-use export licenses for other countries that do not pose a significant proliferation concern. These two reforms could affect more than half of the 20,000 licenses DOC issues each year. In addition, Locke said, “we need to reallocate resources to focus more targeted controls on highly sensitive items—and to reduce controls elsewhere where they serve no useful security purpose and make no sense.” He suggested that more details on these types of changes may be provided in the coming months.
IPR Enforcement. “The current system for protecting U.S. intellectual property—both domestically and internationally—is fraying at the seams,” Locke warned, with U.S. companies in the energy, technology, entertainment, pharmaceuticals and other industries losing between $200-$250 billion a year to counterfeiting and piracy. While DOC can take steps to improve the United States’ IP regime, from reforming the patent office to helping shape upcoming legislation, “our efforts need to begin with better enforcement.” The department’s Trade Agreements Compliance Program “will play an important role in this monitoring and enforcement work.”
Other Efforts. “There is one final step that must be taken in order to increase the amount of goods and services that America sends to foreign markets: We need to use every lever of the U.S. government to promote our exports,” Locke said. “Whether that involves our State Department writing a letter on behalf of an American company that wants to do business in Russia, or our Department of Energy helping to facilitate renewable energy partnerships between U.S. companies and the Chinese government, every federal department has a role to play in promoting American business.”
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