Testimony by Secretary of Commerce Donald L. Evans

Before the Senate Banking Committee

October 2, 2001

Washington, DC

[As Prepared For Delivery]

Chairman Sarbanes, Senator Gramm, Members of the Committee, as chairman of the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee (TPCC), I'm pleased to be here today with my colleagues to discuss our proposals for increasing exports by providing U.S. companies - especially small and medium-sized enterprises - with state-of-the-art export promotion services.

My brief remarks will be accompanied by written testimony, which I'll submit for the record.

The Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee was created to help American companies get export information quickly and easily, and we thank you, Mr. Chairman, and the other Members of the Committee, for making the TPCC permanent in the Export Enhancement Act of 1992.

Significant progress has been made. A worldwide export-assistance network has been established. A U.S. advocacy center has been created. And there is extensive trade information available via the Internet.

Secretary of Commerce Don Evans Testifies Before the Senate Banking Committee.

We're now in a new century with intense competition. Falling market share where commercial opportunities are greatest - and the unmet export potential of our small firms - compel us to take a new look at the needs of our customers, as well as at the best practices of our competitors. Many of these competitors, frankly, may be doing a better job when it comes to getting their small and medium sized companies into the markets with greatest potential.

Today, what we are proposing is to use the TPCC as a management tool to reevaluate our export promotion programs from the ground up through a comprehensive benchmarking exercise. This study will give us information we need to determine how to ensure our export promotion services are best in class.

We have a three-part strategy:

First, we will assess customer satisfaction. We have commissioned a survey of the business community, including those who use our export services and those who don't. And we will meet with "focus groups" to hear first-hand experiences with our programs.

Second, we'll review how the governments of our major competitor countries go about promoting exports. We already know that many of these governments focus their programs on small business, and that they target these initiatives to developing countries. The French have a small business initiative targeted to Eastern Europe. Spain has a plan to get their companies into the Asia-Pacific region. And Canada has targeted South America for its small business exporters.

Also, a number of countries have closely linked export-and-investment promotion programs. Additionally, we will look at how the private sector in the United States and abroad promotes exports.

The final phase of our benchmarking study will be an analysis and comparison of our programs with other best practices, such as leveraging the Internet to promote exports. We have a short-list of export promotion processes. Our goal is to benchmark each with the best practices we identify so we can target areas for improvement.

We anticipate providing this Committee with recommendations next March that can be fully implemented by 2004. We expect these recommendations will be both strategic and programmatic. They will address duplications and gaps in our services. And they also will attempt to leverage services provided by federal agencies, the private sector and others.

As this Committee knows, trade is a vital contributor to the economic foundation of our nation. Exports have fueled our economic growth and support millions of American jobs. Continued expansion of trade is essential to our nation's long-term prosperity.

Mr. Chairman, the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee is eager to work with you and the other Members to provide world-class export promotion services so the American business community can take advantage of global opportunities. To do this, we believe it is critical that our trade promotion agencies know the needs of our customers as well as the practices of our competitors, so we can respond with appropriate programs and initiatives.

We welcome your thoughts - and those of your colleagues - on the benchmarking proposals we are presenting today.

Thank you. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.