Thursday
Mar112010
Obama Repeats Pledge To Boost Nation's Exports
Thursday, March 11, 2010 at 12:12PM
By Antonia Aguilar
University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service
President Barack Obama addressed the annual Export-Import Bank conference on Thursday, outlining details of his proposed National Export Initiative.
In his speech, Obama said he'd like to see U.S. exports doubled over the next five years, a figure he first announced during his State of The Union address this past January. The President reiterated his pledge that such growth will create two million U.S. jobs.
"If we want to once again approach full employment; if we want to create broad, shared, and lasting wealth for our workers and our families; if we want an America that is ready to compete on the global playing field of the 21st century – then we cannot slide back into an economy where we borrow too much and put off tough challenges," he said.
“In 2010, as the world economy recovers, export-driven growth opportunities will continue to multiply,” said U.S.Trade Representative Ron Kirk in a conference call with reporters earlier in the week. “This administration has laid out an aggressive agenda to seize the full measure of those opportunities - one that supports the creation of more and better jobs.”
To help U.S. companies better compete in the global market, the President stressed the need for export control reform, which would help better maintain control over the output of sensitive items. Such reform would also help minimize theft and production of counterfeit items of American intellectual property.
"In a time when millions of Americans are out of work, boosting our exports is a short-term imperative...It’s also critical for our long-term prosperity. 95% percent of the world’s customers and the world’s fastest-growing markets are outside our borders. We need to compete for those customers. Because other nations are," said Obama.
University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service
President Barack Obama addressed the annual Export-Import Bank conference on Thursday, outlining details of his proposed National Export Initiative.
In his speech, Obama said he'd like to see U.S. exports doubled over the next five years, a figure he first announced during his State of The Union address this past January. The President reiterated his pledge that such growth will create two million U.S. jobs.
"If we want to once again approach full employment; if we want to create broad, shared, and lasting wealth for our workers and our families; if we want an America that is ready to compete on the global playing field of the 21st century – then we cannot slide back into an economy where we borrow too much and put off tough challenges," he said.
“In 2010, as the world economy recovers, export-driven growth opportunities will continue to multiply,” said U.S.Trade Representative Ron Kirk in a conference call with reporters earlier in the week. “This administration has laid out an aggressive agenda to seize the full measure of those opportunities - one that supports the creation of more and better jobs.”
To help U.S. companies better compete in the global market, the President stressed the need for export control reform, which would help better maintain control over the output of sensitive items. Such reform would also help minimize theft and production of counterfeit items of American intellectual property.
"In a time when millions of Americans are out of work, boosting our exports is a short-term imperative...It’s also critical for our long-term prosperity. 95% percent of the world’s customers and the world’s fastest-growing markets are outside our borders. We need to compete for those customers. Because other nations are," said Obama.
US Trade Representative Says Administration's Export Goals Are On Track
By Anna Cameron
The United States is well on its way to achieving its goal of doubling exports over the next five years, US Trade Representative Ron Kirk revealed at a John Hopkins University SAIS roundtable Wednesday.
“We are well on the path of meeting that objective of doubling exports,” he said. “[We are] ell over pace that we would need.”
According to the Representative, the National Export Initiative, which President Obama announced as an executive order in March of 2010, brings a focused approach to increasing exports, and according to Kirk, has been successful in its mission by helping the country bounce back from economic hardship.
“Exports always tend to lead the world out of economic recession,” said Kirk. “A great way to get your economy going is to sell more of what you make to the rest of the world.”
In addition, Kirk noted that despite the current mood in Washington, the United States is still doing well, in part due to this initiative.
“I can tell you, ‘Made in America’ is still one of the most treasured brands in the world. We still have far and away the largest consumer economy in the world, and we are still doing very well manufacturing,” Kirk confirmed. “You wouldn’t hear any of this if you read the paper today.”
Despite the initiative’s success, Kirk emphasized the continued importance of convincing the American people of the benefits of trade.
“Our next big thing is we’ve got to convince the 70% of Americans who, when asked, ‘has trade been good for the United States?,’ say emphatically, ‘no’” said Kirk.