Tradeology, the ITA Blog

Bryan Erwin is the Director of  The Advocacy Center in the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration

The Advocacy Center of the Department of Commerce has had its most successful year since its creation in 1993. Never before has the Center helped U.S. businesses win as many international public contracts as in the past fiscal year 2012 .

U.S. companies won 53 international contracts, with a total value of $87.1 Billion. Of this amount, $73.9 Billion is U.S. export content – which means that it was made here in the U.S. – ensuring jobs for Americans. In fact, the Advocacy Center estimates that our work has helped support some 370,000 U.S. jobs.

These statistics are a record for us. In the year before, the value of the U.S. exports in the contracts was only $23.7 Billion. In 2010, it was $16.8 Billion.

Our mission is to coordinate U.S. Government resources and authority in order to level the playing field on behalf of U.S. business interests as they compete against foreign firms for specific international contracts or other U.S. export opportunities. In doing so, the Advocacy Center helps create and retain U.S. jobs through exports. And our success in 2012 was very much a collaborative effort of the whole of the Department of Commerce, and in some cases whole-of government.

But it is not only the total number which is impressive. The Advocacy Center also helped more sectors vital for the National Export Initiative win contracts. One fifth of the acquired contracts were won by Small and Medium Enterprises. Their share used to be in the single digits.

The clean energy and environmental sector and the health care sector were also able to acquire more business. International contracts won in 2012 will support almost 2,400 US clean energy jobs and 200 U.S. healthcare jobs.

A focus of the Center has also been Emergency Rescue and Disaster Relief Projects, contracts in Reconstruction Areas, and bidding contests in the so called BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) markets. In each of these focus areas, the Advocacy Center was able to assist more U.S. firms win contracts than in the recent past.

One example of our success in an emerging market is in Indonesia, in which case the U.S. Government advocated on behalf of Electro-Motive Diesel Inc. (EMD), based in LaGrange, IL, to win a government contract in Indonesia. In August, EMD reported that it was awarded a contract to provide PT Kereta Api Indonesa (PTKA), a state-owned railway company, with 44 diesel-electric locomotives as a result. EMD estimates that the total value of the procurement at $140 million, with U.S. export content of $94.0 million. And this contract will help support 470 U.S. jobs alone!

Our work on behalf of U.S. businesses is important that ever as we continue to help position companies to compete in an increasingly competitive global marketplace. That is why although 2012 was the Advocacy Center’s most successful year – we are already working on breaking this new record in 2013.

For more information about the Advocacy Center, please visit http://export.gov/advocacy/