Latest News
August 12, 2011
U.S. Exports Down
The Department of Commerce’s Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) announced August 11 that total exports for the month of June dropped $4.1 billion to $170.9 billion, down from $175 billion in May. This drop resulted in a trade deficit of $53.1 billion, up from $50.8 billion in May, revised. Both goods [Read More]
August 11, 2011
Congressional Leaders Plan to Move FTAs
Just before the August recess, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced that they had agreed on a path forward for consideration of three long-stalled free trade agreements (FTAs) with Korea, Colombia, and Panama and the trade adjustment assistance (TAA) program to help workers adversely impacted by trade when [Read More]
August 11, 2011
Congressional Leaders Plan to Move FTAs
Just before the August recess, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced that they had agreed on a path forward for consideration of three long-stalled free trade agreements (FTAs) with Korea, Colombia, and Panama and the trade adjustment assistance (TAA) program to help workers adversely impacted by trade when [Read More]
August 11, 2011
Ex-Im Bank Authorizations Hit All-Time Record
The Export-Import Bank of the U.S. (Ex-Im Bank) has set a new all-time record for export finance authorizations. On Aug. 4, for the first time, loan authorizations exceeded $ 24.5 billion and with two months still remaining in the fiscal year the total Ex-Im authorizations will continue to grow. Ex-Im Bank financing supports over $ 31.5 [Read More]
August 10, 2011
NEI Event Focuses on Small Biz
On Aug. 3, small- and mid-sized exporters gathered in Milwaukee for the latest stop of the National Export Initiative (NEI) Small Business Tour. Hosted by the Departments of Agriculture and Commerce, and the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. (Ex-Im Bank), the event was [Read More]
July 5, 2011
Ex-Im Bank Reauthorization Update
H.R. 2072, the Securing American Jobs Through Exports Act of 2011, which will reauthorize—through Sept. 30, 2015—the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) was introduced and referred to the House Financial Services Committee on June 1, 2011. On June 22, 2011, the full committee approved the bill and ordered it to be reported favorably to the [Read More]
July 5, 2011
Past SBEA Chair Testifies Before Senate Panel
David Ickert, National Small Business Association (NSBA) treasurer and past chair of the Small Business Exporters Association (SBEA) testified last week before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Security and International Trade and Finance. Ickert, of Air Tractor, Inc. in Olney, Texas, has been an outspoken advocate for growing export opportunities for small businesses, [Read More]
June 30, 2011
2011 National Export Strategy Released
On June 28, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, on behalf of the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee (TPCC), released to Congress the 2011 National Export Strategy: Powering the National Export Initiative (NEI). The TPCC—an interagency body compromised of 20 federal agencies—annual report focuses on methods of implementing 70 recommendations made in a Sept. 2010 report to President [Read More]
June 30, 2011
Trade Deals Find Momentum in Congress
Free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama – long delayed by an impasse between the Obama administration and congressional Republicans – finally are ready to move through Congress, with votes likely to come before Congress leaves for its August recess. Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Orin Hatch (R-Utah) stated the panel will begin [Read More]
June 30, 2011
