US Trade Promotion Becoming More Aggressive, Evans Says
(Programs aim to neutralize "considerable" export supports of trading partners)

Source: Bureau of International Information Programs, US Department of State
21 May 2003

U.S. agencies have worked more aggressively and used resources more effectively to create a level playing field for U.S. exporters disadvantaged by other countries' export supports, Commerce Secretary Don Evans says.

In May 21 testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, Evans said that while not all the ambitious goals of the 2002 National Export Strategy, designed to give a boost to competitiveness of U.S. firms abroad, have been reached, "we have achieved measurable results."

"Evans, who testified along with chiefs of agencies that make up the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee (TPCC), said that other Group of Seven (G-7) countries dedicate "considerable" resources and "high-level" attention to their export promotion programs.

The G-7 comprises Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

To give U.S. companies a fairer chance to win foreign contracts, Evans said, U.S. agencies have launched several initiatives including supporting project development with front-end engineering and design (FEED) studies and early promises of financial backing. Demonstrating the likelihood of financing early in the procurement process and providing technical assistance that sets specifications for particular projects create a competitive advantage for the country sponsoring these supports, Evans said. He said that after the Bush administration publicized in May 2002 a U.S. Trade Development Agency (USTDA) pilot FEED study project, the Japanese government agreed to a U.S. proposal in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development not to link the early project studies with larger untied aid projects.

Untied aid projects are financed through official development assistance for which the associated goods and services may be acquired in all countries.

Evans said the Bush administration also has begun combining U.S. Agency for International Development grants with Export-Import Bank financing for development projects in middle-income countries.

"Rather than duplicate each others' marketing and outreach efforts, we decided to leverage each other's strengths and human capital," Evans said.

The Commerce secretary said some trade promotion agencies play or will soon be playing a "significant" role in Iraq reconstruction. He said that the agencies are looking at steps they can take, once the major obstacles preventing them from operating in Iraq are overcome. Evans said that possibilities include using:

-- USTDA funding for technical assistance and feasibility studies to support infrastructure projects;
-- Overseas Private Insurance Corporation programs to help provide liquidity to the financial sector and insurance to business and contractors;
-- Interim Ex-Im Bank measures such as looking to the credit of third-country financial institutions to finance U.S. exports to Iraq, pending the establishment of a creditworthy banking system or finding other reasonable assurance of repayment.

Evans said that the TPCC also has developed initiatives to stimulate trade and investment in the East European countries that helped the United States to defeat the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq.

Read the text of Evans' prepared testimony here.