U.S. unveils export initiative to boost jobs
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The U.S. government unveiled a broad initiative Thursday to boost export in an effort to help soothe the nation's unemployment.
Under a plan to double U.S. exports in five years and created 2 million jobs in America, which was outlined by President Barack Obama in his first State of the Union address last week, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke detailed how the National Export Initiative ( NEI) will help the country reach that goal -- providing more funding, more focus and more cabinet-level coordination to grow U. S. exports.
The NEI represents the first time that United States will have a government-wide export-promotion strategy with focused attention from the president and his cabinet, Locke said.
"Increasing the export of American products and services to global markets can help revive the fortunes of U.S. companies, spur future economic growth and support jobs here at home," Locke said. "This initiative will correct an economic blind spot that has allowed other countries to chip away at the United States' international competitiveness."
The initiative is focused on three key areas: to expand the government's trade advocacy in all its forms, especially for small- and medium-sized enterprises; to improve access to credit with a focus on small-and medium-sized businesses that want to export; to continue to enforce international trade laws to help U.S. companies easily access to foreign markets.
"Exports support nearly 10 million jobs in America and almost 7 million jobs in manufacturing," Locke said. "for every 1 billion dollars in exports, 6,250 manufacturing jobs are created or supported."
"But while the U.S. is major exporter, we are underperformance, " Locke added.
According to data released by the Commerce Department, U.S. exports for the first 11 months of 2009 were 1.411 trillion dollars, compared to 1.827 trillion dollars for the whole of 2008.
Unemployment, currently at 10 percent, is not expected to fall significantly in 2010. To create jobs has become the top priority of Obama administration.
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