When the Obama administration unveiled its National Export Initiative on Feb. 4, a federal program aimed at creating 2 million new jobs and strengthening U.S. trade abroad, the White House termed the plan "unprecedented."
On the contrary, many of the proposals -- and the circumstances surrounding their unveiling -- ring strangely similar to the struggles of a previous president. Back in 1993, Bill Clinton launched a similar bid to increase U.S. trade abroad in what was viewed at the time as an effort to both boost the economy and shift the focus away from the rapidly deteriorating Congressional support for his healthcare bill.
While both presidents' initiatives -- and their surrounding circumstances -- might not be perfectly symmetrical, they showcase the dueling interests of business and politics and the confounding ways in which they can intersect on an issue such as foreign trade.
Obama has called for an ambitious government-wide effort to help American companies push exports past $3 trillion and shift the economy away from relying so heavily on domestic consumption. To this end, the trade strategy aims to pry open emerging economies like China, India and Brazil and boost efforts to identify markets for fast-growing sectors such as environmental goods and services, renewable energy, healthcare and biotechnology.
"This initiative will correct an economic blind spot that has allowed other countries to slowly chip away at the United States' international competitiveness," said Commerce Secretary Gary Locke.
More Insider's Look Insider's Look offers exclusive commentary and analysis by digging deep into the stories that most affect manufacturers. IW Associate Editor Peter Alpern talks with manufacturing executives on the ground as well as industry experts about the trends and challenges the manufacturing sector faces. See the latest in this continuing series. |
Obama ordered the creation of a cabinet level group to oversee a three-pronged strategy based on better educating U.S. businesses that seek to export their goods overseas, especially those that are small- to medium-sized companies; opening up lines of export financing for U.S. businesses which have struggled to secure bank loans; and finally, to remove many of the trade barriers which U.S. manufacturers have said put them at a competitive disadvantage with foreign competitors.
While much of the manufacturing and business community hailed Obama's call to modernize export control laws, which to this point haven't been touched since 1979, many were left with questions.
"I think this initiative is certainly welcome by export companies, both small and large," says Barry Misthal, partner and industrial manufacturing sector leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers. "But the question a lot of people have is the cost to entering those markets both politically and economically. I'm not sure we're going to get an immediate answer. This will be a six-month process before the government gets to providing those details."
View article on one page