In his State of the Union address on January 27, 2010, US President Barack Obama announced the National Export Initiative stating that, “We will double our exports over the next five years, an increase that will support two million jobs in America.” The federal government’s lead export promotion agency, the International Trade Administration, is ready to meet this challenge.
The newly updated National Export Strategy recounts the trade promotion and trade policy results of the Obama Administration in this third year of the National Export Initiative. Moreover, the Report lays out ambitious new plans of the Federal Government, including partnering with metropolitan areas, improving outreach and service delivery to small businesses, targeting efforts on infrastructure projects and in the regions Asia and Africa, and supporting the work of SelectUSA to attract and retain more investment and the new Interagency Trade Enforcement Center to identify and address unfair trade practices.
What are you waiting for to sell to the world?
The State Trade and Export Promotion Program (STEP) is a 3-year pilot trade and export initiative authorized by the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010. Funded by federal grants and matching funds from the states, the STEP Program is designed to help increase the number of small businesses that are exporting and to raise the value of exports for those small businesses that are currently exporting.
The STEP grants will help provide:
- support for small business participation in foreign trade missions and foreign market sales trips;
- subscription to services by the Department of Commerce;
- website translation fees;
- design of international marketing media;
- trade show exhibitions;
- participation in training workshops; and
- other export initiatives determined to be appropriate by the SBA.
To find out if you are eligible to a State Trade and Export Promotion (STEP) grant, visit the Office of International Trade Resources page.
