sales and add what he said would be 2 million more jobs at home during
the next 5 years.
“In a time when millions of Americans are out of
work, boosting our exports is a short-term imperative,” Obama said in
unveiling his National Export Initiative.
“When other markets are growing and other nations
are competing, we’ve got to get even better,” he told the annual
conference of the
our companies a level playing field. We need to guarantee American
workers a fair shake. In other words, we need to up our game.”
Obama’s plan would boost government efforts to help U.S. businesses, create new partnerships with shipping firms such as
and ease controls over the export of technology such as cell phones,
which currently have to go through lengthy reviews to ensure that they
don’t compromise national security secrets.
Obama also strived anew to reassure Americans who
are anxious about losing jobs to overseas competitors that pay lower
wages and lure away U.S. factories, and he acknowledged some downsides
to trade.
“If you ask the average American what trade has
offered them, they won’t say that their televisions are cheaper, or
productivity is higher. They’d say they’ve seen the plant across town
shut down, jobs dry up, communities deteriorate. And you can’t blame
them for feeling that way,” he said.
“The fact is, other countries haven’t always played
by the same set of rules. America hasn’t always enforced our trade
rights, or made sure that the benefits of trade are broadly shared. And
we haven’t always done enough to help our workers adapt to a changing
world.”
Still, he insisted, “we’ve got to compete in the global marketplace.”
He said his administration will enforce existing
trade agreements to assure fair trade. He also said that his
administration continues to negotiate with
Among his plan’s highlights:
—Create an Export Promotion Cabinet that includes
the secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, State and Treasury to
focus administration efforts.
—Appoint
—Add
—Launch more trade missions to other countries. As a start, Obama said he’d use a trip next week to
—Set up one-stop shops at all 250 U.S. embassies and
consulates where U.S. businesses can get help from all government
agencies and departments.
—Order ambassadors to stress “commercial diplomacy”
and then to tour the U.S. when they return home to tell businesses here
about opportunities abroad.
—Create a New Market Exporter Initiative with shipping giants such as
—Bring up to 300 procurement officers from other countries here to meet with U.S. companies.
—Speed approval of exports of technology that’s
reviewed for national security, eliminating the review for about 2,800
of 3,300 applications a year and cutting the wait time from as many as
60 days to 30 minutes.
enforcing existing trade pacts; expanding the limits on certain
technologies under national security export controls; resisting
protectionism; and promoting exports.
——
(c) 2010, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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