Export Promotion: Government Agencies Should Combine Small Business Export Training Programs

摘要

The interagency Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee was created by the Export Enhancement Act of 1992 to coordinate the delivery of federal export promotion services and to eliminate the areas of overlap and duplication among federal export promotion programs. The 1999 Export Enhancement Act reiterated that eliminating duplication was a primary Committee objective. In 1993, the Committee had recommended that three agencies the Department of Commerce, the Small Business Administration, and the U.S. Export- Import Bank, co-locate their staffs at a domestic network of 19 one-stop shops, called U.S. Export Assistance Centers. These centers were to provide coordinated export training, as well as trade leads, export finance, and counseling to U.S. firms interested in becoming exporters. The Committee designated that the Small Business Administration be responsible for providing export training to new-to-export firms. Both the Department of Commerce and U.S. Export-Import Bank staffs provide information on their agencies programs during the training sessions. Because export training is the first step in assisting new-to-export firms, GAO was asked to assess how well the agencies were (1) coordinating the delivery of export training and (2) measuring training program results.