Ambassador Kirk joined fellow Cabinet members today as President Obama gathered his Export Council to discuss the National Export Initiative (NEI). The NEI, announced in the President’s State of the Union Address in January, seeks to double U.S. export sales within five years to support an additional two million American jobs. The Export Council is dedicated to building on the progress in promoting exports that has already been made. In advance of the President’s Export Council meeting, the White House released a report today on the NEI, laying out a plan for reaching the President’s goals.
Our nation’s economic recovery and a return to long-term economic growth depend in part on U.S. businesses, especially small businesses, selling their goods and services to the 95 percent of the world’s customers that live beyond our borders. The NEI marks the first time that the United States has a government-wide export promotion strategy with attention focused from the President and his Cabinet. Less than a year after the announcement of the initiative, the Administration is making important progress promoting and supporting U.S. export sales and jobs.
At USTR, Ambassador Kirk has traveled the country listening to businesses and workers to hear their concerns and priorities for better market access overseas. He has renewed efforts to encourage businesses to export, pushed for foreign countries to open markets to American products and services, and enforced existing trade agreements in order to help achieve the President’s ambitious goal.
