International Trade:
Effective Export Programs Can Help In Achieving U.S. Economic Goals
GAO-09-480T: Published: Mar 17, 2009. Publicly Released: Mar 17, 2009.
Additional Materials:
- Full Report:
- Accessible Text:
Contact:
This testimony summarizes observations regarding export promotion challenges from a range of work that GAO has conducted for Congress over the past 4 years. Congress has expressed longstanding concerns regarding several aspects of U.S. export promotion efforts, especially interagency coordination, meeting the needs of small businesses, and effectively enforcing trade agreements.
GAO has reviewed the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee (TPCC) several times since its inception and testified in 2006 that the TPCC had made progress over time in improving interagency coordination. However, its National Export Strategy continued to provide limited information on agencies' goals and progress relative to broad national priorities. GAO states in this testimony that the 2008 National Export Strategy contains information about the status of priority initiatives identified in the prior year's report. It also contains information on individual TPCC member agencies' export promotion strategies and results. However, the strategy still lacks an overall review of agencies' allocation of resources relative to government-wide export promotion priorities. Promoting exports by small businesses has been a perennial priority in the National Export Strategy. While many small businesses export, it is widely recognized that they face a number of challenges in exporting. For example, GAO identified two challenges to monitoring the Export-Import Bank's support for small businesses: (1) developing effective performance measures and (2) maintaining reliable data and reporting. A top trade priority for the United States is opening foreign markets for U.S. goods and services by ensuring that U.S. trading partners comply with existing trade agreements. GAO reviews have raised questions about (1) U.S. government efforts to monitor and enforce trade agreements and (2) the sufficiency of agencies' human capital for performing monitoring and enforcement responsibilities.
Oct 27, 2020
Forced Labor Imports:
DHS Increased Resources and Enforcement Efforts, but Needs to Improve Workforce Planning and MonitoringGAO-21-106: Published: Oct 27, 2020. Publicly Released: Oct 27, 2020.
Oct 2, 2020
-
Combating Wildlife Trafficking:
Agencies Work to Address Human Rights Abuse Allegations in Overseas Conservation ProgramsGAO-21-139R: Published: Oct 2, 2020. Publicly Released: Oct 2, 2020.
Sep 22, 2020
-
Cyber Diplomacy:
State Has Not Involved Relevant Federal Agencies in the Development of Its Plan to Establish the Cyberspace Security and Emerging Technologies BureauGAO-20-607R: Published: Sep 22, 2020. Publicly Released: Sep 22, 2020.
Sep 15, 2020
-
Steel and Aluminum Tariffs:
Commerce Should Improve Its Exclusion Request Process and Economic Impact ReviewsGAO-20-517: Published: Sep 15, 2020. Publicly Released: Sep 15, 2020.
Sep 14, 2020
-
Conflict Minerals:
Actions Needed to Assess Progress Addressing Armed Groups' Exploitation of MineralsGAO-20-595: Published: Sep 14, 2020. Publicly Released: Sep 14, 2020.
Aug 27, 2020
-
Export-Import Bank:
Status of End-Use Monitoring of Dual-Use Exports as of August 2020GAO-20-688R: Published: Aug 27, 2020. Publicly Released: Aug 27, 2020.
Jul 28, 2020
-
Climate Change:
USAID Is Taking Steps to Increase Projects' Resilience, but Could Improve Reporting of Adaptation FundingGAO-20-555: Published: Jul 28, 2020. Publicly Released: Jul 28, 2020.
Jun 18, 2020
-
Forced Labor:
Better Communication Could Improve Trade Enforcement Efforts Related to SeafoodGAO-20-441: Published: Jun 18, 2020. Publicly Released: Jun 18, 2020.
Jun 9, 2020
-
Rule of Law Assistance:
Agency Efforts Are Guided by Various Strategies, and Overseas Missions Should Ensure that Programming Is Fully CoordinatedGAO-20-393: Published: Jun 9, 2020. Publicly Released: Jun 9, 2020.
May 12, 2020
-
Asistencia de Los Estados Unidos a México:
El Departamento de Estado podría mejorar su monitoreo de los proyectos de la Iniciativa MéridaGAO-20-563SP: Published: May 12, 2020. Publicly Released: May 12, 2020.
Looking for more? Browse all our products here
Explore our Key Issues on International Affairs
Explore our other Key Issues here
