US Exports On Track To Double In Five Years

Top U.S. trade officials said Monday exports are on track to double over the next five years, in line with the goal set by President Barack Obama.

Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said the "aggressive" target will be a challenge to achieve, but that boosting sales of U.S. products abroad will serve as a necessary counter-weight to slowing consumer spending at home.

"These challenging times demand nothing less," Locke said in a prepared speech to an export summit in Richmond, Va.

"With millions of Americans out of work, and our competitors in Europe and Asia increasingly competing with us for the same customers, we can't simply keep doing what we've done in the past and hope things get better," he said.

Locke said the administration is on track to meet its goal with exports up 17.9% in the year to July, at a little over $1 billion.

Exports would have to increase by about 15% a year to increase two-fold in five years, though critics point out that the administration is using as its base year 2009, when sales abroad were at a three-year low below $1.6 billion.

The Export-Import Bank, which has focused on expanding financing to small and medium-size exporters, has also topped the previous year's amount of credit authorizations with one month to go in the fiscal year. It had authorized $21.5 billion in financing so far through July, following a total of $21 billion in fiscal 2009.

Fred Hochberg, Ex-Im Bank chairman and president, was scheduled to speak at the event with Locke. In a statement late Friday, he said this year's financing has supported an estimated 200,000 jobs.

"Again we are heartened by the export increase, which shows a growing appetite for U.S.-made goods and services, and that translates to more American jobs," Hochberg said.

The two officials, who are part of the president's export promotion cabinet, were speaking ahead of the first meeting of an advisory council made up of business and labor leaders later this week.
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