####### World Trade Week 2008

-   The U.S. Commerce Department continues to promote free and fair
    trade, with a special focus this year on Free Trade Agreements. This
    year's trade agenda includes the pending Colombia, Korea, and Panama
    Free Trade Agreements. The Commerce Department's "Colombia Tariff
    Ticker," on [www.export.gov](http://www.export.gov/), highlights
    estimated dollars lost to U.S. businesses as a result of Congress'
    delayed action on the Colombia FTA vote.

-   The U.S. Commercial Service has established a simplified fee
    structure with a single worldwide fee for each standardized service,
    enabling us to better serve U.S. firms, particularly small and
    medium-sized businesses. The new system provides strong incentives
    for many new to export companies in your city/state to try
    Commercial Service assistance for the first time.

-   World Trade Week was an idea born in 1926, during a time when
    isolationism dominated U.S policy and popular opinion. The manager
    of the World Trade Department in Los Angeles conceived the idea
    originally to promote the growth of Southern California ports.
    President Franklin Roosevelt officially proclaimed World Trade Week
    as a national observance in 1935 to recognize the importance of
    international commerce to our economy and way of life.

**Why Consider Exporting?**

-   More than 70 percent of the world's purchasing power---and 95
    percent of its population is beyond U.S. borders. So if a U.S.
    business is only selling domestically, they are reaching just a
    small share of potential customers.

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-   There is no better time to export. Free trade agreements, together
    with ease of transportation, the Internet, and U.S. Government
    programs and partnerships continue to simplify the export process.

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-   Free trade agreements have opened up in markets such as Australia,
    Chile, Singapore, Jordan, Israel, Canada and Mexico, and South and
    Central America, creating more opportunities for U.S. businesses.

-   Top markets for U.S. exports in 2007 were Canada, Mexico, China,
    Japan, United Kingdom, Germany, South Korea, Netherlands, France,
    and Taiwan.

-   If your company is not exporting, it's highly likely your
    competitors are or will be selling internationally. Exporting
    enables companies to diversify their portfolios and weather changes
    in the marketplace, and to grow and become more competitive.

### The Economic Impact of Exporting

-   In 2007, U.S. exports reached a record \$1.63 trillion, an increase
    of 12.6 percent over the previous year.

-   U.S. exports support millions of American jobs. In 2005, 5.7 million
    jobs were linked to manufactured exports.

-   Small businesses create 70 percent of the new jobs in America. It is
    important to help these firms increase their exports.

-   In 2007, U.S. exports to countries where there was an FTA in effect
    exceeded \$472 billion, accounting for roughly 41 percent of U.S.
    exports.

####### Smaller Companies Have Vast Untapped Export Potential 

####### 

-   In 2006, there were 245.9 thousand identified U.S. exporters, an
    increase of 2.3 percent over the previous year. Yet, only a very
    small percentage of all U.S. businesses actually export.

-   Small and medium-sized companies account for 97 percent of U.S.
    exporters, but represent less than one-third of the known export
    value of U.S. goods' exports.

-   Nearly 60 percent of all exporters only sell to one foreign market,
    so many of these firms could boost exports by expanding the number
    of countries they sell to.

-   Nearly three-quarters of exporters have fewer than 20 employees.

-   Many smaller businesses are so busy running their day-to-day
    operations that they don't consider their export potential.
    Oftentimes, companies think exporting is too burdensome, believe
    it's just for larger firms, or are not aware of the services offered
    by U.S. Government agencies such as the Commercial Service.

#######  U.S. Commercial Service

-   The U.S. Commercial Service helps U.S. companies export and protects
    American business interests abroad, operating a seamless worldwide
    network of offices in 108 U.S. cities and American embassies and
    consulates in nearly 80 countries.

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-   The Commercial Service's end-to-end export solutions help smaller
    firms increase profits and lower risks. Companies can benefit from
    export counseling, customized market research, pre-screened business
    appointments abroad through the Gold Key Service, international
    contacts and trade leads, advocacy, and participation in trade shows
    and the International Buyer Program.

-   The Commercial Service is partnering with corporate organizations to
    further streamline the export process and build awareness of
    exporting opportunities for small businesses through seminars and
    other outreach efforts. These partnerships include FedEx, UPS, eBay,
    PNC Bank, Google, and others.

-   In 2007, the Commercial Service network generated nearly 12,000
    export successes; facilitating billions of dollars in U.S. export
    sales.

-   For more information, locate the nearest Commercial Service U.S.
    Export Assistance Center at
    [www.export.gov](http://www.export.gov/), or call the Trade
    Information Center at 1-800-USA- TRADe.

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