The Hill News

Today marks the anniversary of President Obama’s National Export Initiative (NEI), an unprecedented effort to aid the nation’s economic recovery by doubling U.S. exports by the end of 2014 and supporting millions of American jobs. I am proud to announce that in 2011 alone, nearly 6,000 American companies â€" including 3,000 small and medium-sized enterprises â€" were able to export for the first time or increase their exports to new markets.

These successes should not come as a surprise. We operate in a global marketplace, where approximately 95 percent of the world’s consumers live beyond America’s borders. During the next five years, the International Monetary Fund estimates that 85 percent of world economic growth will take place outside of the United States. There is a growing global need for products and services that U.S. businesses can fill.

As the NEI enters its third year, the U.S. Department of Commerce is focused on helping more U.! S. businesses surmount the barriers of international trade and experience its benefits.

Thanks to private and public sector efforts, U.S. manufacturers have added more than 400,000 new American jobs â€" the strongest growth since the 1990s. Exports also have a significant impact on earnings. The Department of Commerce estimates that exports add up to 18 percent more to workers’ average earnings.

Translating that into dollars pumped back into our economy, ITA helped U.S. companies facilitate more than 14,200 export successes in 2011 â€" worth more than $55 billion. This represents a 19 percent increase in dollar volume from the previous year.

Keeping America moving on this promising trajectory will require a number of important commitments shared by federal, state, and local leaders.

Nationally, we must continue to remove barriers to international trade, and provide American businesses additional resources to make exporting easie! r and ensure a level playing field. The Commerce Department's ! Internat ional Trade Administration (ITA) actively links U.S. companies with promising growth markets and industries through our network of experienced staff in more than 100 offices nationwide, and in more than 70 countries around the world.

Across government, we are working together to enforce fair trade practices. President Obama recently signed an Executive Order to establish the Interagency Trade Enforcement Center (ITEC). The ITEC represents a more aggressive “whole-of-government” approach to getting tough on trade enforcement by monitoring and enforcing U.S. rights under international and domestic trade rules and countering unfair subsidies. The ITEC is a joint priority of eight agencies, including the U.S. Department of Commerce, and will help better protect American businesses and workers.

We must also work with states and municipalities to think of exports as a core element in their economic development strategies and to establish strong export pro! motion. Currently, through the Metropolitan Export Initiative, a joint project between the Commerce Department and the Brookings Institution, we have forged critical collaborations among federal, state, and metropolitan area leaders to support exporting at the local level.

Finally, we must continue to support investment in our seaports. Ocean transport carries more U.S. international merchandise than air cargo, trucks, railroads, and pipelines combined. In 2011, $570 billion in exports flowed through America’s seaports â€" a 25 percent increase from the previous year.

As we celebrate the success of the National Export Initiative and its positive impact on our economy, we must also commit to ensuring that its momentum continues. Providing more opportunities and support for U.S. companies to export their goods and services makes good economic sense â€" and American workers deserve nothing less.

Sanchez is the Under Secretary of Commerce f! or International Trade. He leads the Department of Commerce’! s Intern ational Trade Administration, a federal agency that promotes U.S. businesses and competitiveness with commercial offices across the United States and the globe.