This Friday, Ambassador Kirk will be in Detroit, Michigan to talk with Wolverine State exporters about what USTR can do to help them create jobs by succeeding in the international marketplace. While in Michigan, Ambassador Kirk will meet with auto industry leaders and tour the GM Tech Center in Warren, Mich., with Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D-Mich.), Rep. Sandy Levin (D-Mich.), and International Representatives of UAW and Regional UAW Representatives of Local 160. Following the tour, Ambassador Kirk and other participants will hold a roundtable discussion with local small business leaders.
Already, businesses and workers across Michigan are growing exports and growing jobs - from 2004 to 2008, state exports increased by more than $9 billion to $45 billion. That made Michigan the eighth largest state exporter, and a leader in the international marketplace.
There is no one type of Michigan exporter - from Detroit to Grand Rapids, businesses of every size and shape are succeeding in the international marketplace. In fact, of the more than 11,000 businesses exporting in Michigan, ninety percent are small- or medium-sized firms with less than 500 employees.
In Hudsonville, one small business is manufacturing safety lighting for school buses, police, and commercial vehicles. And they sell those lights to customers across Europe, Asia and the Middle East. In Lansing, another business is producing recyclable plastic for export to Latin America and the Caribbean.
Those businesses and others like them are supporting jobs all across the state. In fact, exports support more than 200,000 Michigan jobs just in the manufacturing sector. USTR is working hard to support those American jobs and others like them through continued market-opening efforts to help Michigan exporters succeed.
Keep checking the USTR blog for more information on Ambassador Kirk's trip.
