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- Table of Contents
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- Brazil and the United States: Working to Advance Their Common Prosperity
- In Colombia, Trade Opportunities and Stiff Competition
- Mastering the Art of Helping U.S. Companies Export
- Short Takes
- Trade Calendar
- Featured Trade Event: World Trade Week 2011
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Featured Trade Event: World Trade Week 2011
The state of U.S. exports in 1939, as reported in the May 18, 1940, issue of Commerce Reports. National Foreign Trade Week was the predecessor of today’s World Trade Week
Writing to Secretary of State Cordell Hull in May 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt made the astute observation that “a healthy and vigorous flow of trade between nations is an indispensable requirement for general and lasting prosperity” and that through international trade the United States is “gradually building more secure foundations for our own national economic well-being.”
The occasion of Roosevelt’s message was one of the very first celebrations of World Trade Week, then known as “National Foreign Trade Week.” This annual event was first observed in the 1920s in Los Angeles, California. Later, in 1933, the event was given national recognition in the midst of the Great Depression.
Now, nearly 80 years later, the United States is again emerging from a severe economic downturn. Exports are a more important part of the U.S. economy than ever before: they accounted for 12.5 percent of U.S. gross domestic product in 2010. And with President Barack Obama’s call to double U.S. exports by 2015 through the National Export Inititiative, this growing importance of global trade to U.S. prosperity will only continue.
The renewed emphasis on international trade will be evident in the many celebrations scheduled to take place across the country during World Trade Week 2011.
Los Angeles will launch its observation of World Trade Week on May 6 with a kickoff breakfast that features keynote speaker Matthew K. Rose, president and chief executive officer of BNSF Railway Co. For more information and a listing of other events in Los Angeles, visit www.lachamber.com.
World Trade Week in New York City will kick off on May 16, when the New York District Export Council hosts an awards ceremony and breakfast. For more information, visit www.worldtradeweeknyc.org.
Local events will be held throughout the country during the month of May. To learn more, contact the nearest Export Assistance Center or visit the U.S. government’s export portal at www.export.gov.
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