I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5437 

To provide for certain actions by the International Trade Administration 

in order to increase exports by small- and medium-sized enterprises, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 16, 2019 

Mrs. BUSTOS (for herself and Mr. RUTHERFORD) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide for certain actions by the International Trade 

Administration in order to increase exports by smalland medium-sized enterprises, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Boosting America’s 

5 Exports Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) COMMERCIAL SERVICE.—The term ‘‘Com9 mercial Service’’ means the United States and ForVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5437.IH H5437

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
2 

•HR 5437 IH

1 eign Commercial Service of the Department of Com2 merce. 

3 (2) DIRECTOR GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Director 

4 General’’ means the Assistant Secretary for Global 

5 Markets and Director General of the United States 

6 and Foreign Commercial Service. 

7 (3) SMALL- AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTER8 PRISES.—The term ‘‘small- and medium-sized enter9 prises’’ or ‘‘SMEs’’ means firms with less than 500 

10 employees. 

11 (4) UNDER SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Under 

12 Secretary’’ means the Under Secretary of Commerce 

13 for International Trade. 

14 (5) UNITED STATES EXPORT ASSISTANCE CEN15 TER.—The term ‘‘United States Export Assistance 

16 Center’’ or ‘‘USEAC’’ means a United States Ex17 port Assistance Center established by the Commer18 cial Service to provide assistance to United States 

19 firms in exporting their goods and services. 

20 SEC. 3. ASSESSMENT OF UNITED STATES EXPORT ASSIST21 ANCE CENTERS. 

22 (a) ASSESSMENT.—The Under Secretary shall con23 duct an assessment of the location of and services provided 

24 by United States Export Assistance Centers in relation to 

25 the location of small- and medium-sized enterprises that 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
3 

•HR 5437 IH

1 are exporters or potential exporters of products or serv2 ices. 

3 (b) REPORT.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

5 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

6 Under Secretary shall submit to Congress a report 

7 on the assessment conducted under subsection (a). 

8 (2) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report 

9 required under this subsection shall identify— 

10 (A) those locations of USEACs that are 

11 serving a comparatively high number of SMEs; 

12 and 

13 (B) other locations where USEACs should 

14 be established. 

15 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Under Secretary shall 

16 implement the changes recommended in the report sub17 mitted to Congress under subsection (b) not later than 

18 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act. The 

19 Under Secretary may establish up to 30 new USEACs on 

20 the basis of the report. 

21 SEC. 4. ACTIVITIES OF COMMERCIAL SERVICE. 

22 (a) INCREASED ACTIVITIES.—The Under Secretary 

23 shall take the necessary steps, through actions by the 

24 Commercial Service, to increase the exports, by volume 

25 and types of products and services, by small- and mediumVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5437.IH H5437

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
4 

•HR 5437 IH

1 sized enterprises. In order to achieve that goal, the Direc2 tor General shall set goals and measure exports by SMEs 

3 in each fiscal year, in particular exports by SMEs that 

4 had not exported previously, including measuring— 

5 (1) the total volume of exports, by product and 

6 type of services, including as compared to the vol7 ume of such exports in the preceding fiscal year; 

8 (2) the number of non-exporting SMEs con9 tacted through recruitment efforts of the Commer10 cial Service; 

11 (3) the number of new SMEs exporting in the 

12 fiscal year; and 

13 (4) customer service, such as response times 

14 and customer satisfaction, to SMEs that contact 

15 United States Export Assistance Centers, in par16 ticular non-exporting SMEs. 

17 (b) PERSONNEL FOR USEACS.—The Under Sec18 retary shall ensure that the following is carried out upon 

19 the implementation of the report submitted under section 

20 3: 

21 (1) FUNCTIONS OF PERSONNEL.—Personnel at 

22 each USEAC shall identify and conduct outreach to 

23 potential exporters that are SMEs, attend relevant 

24 business conferences and trade shows to advertise 

25 the availability of the resources of the USEAC to 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
5 

•HR 5437 IH

1 SMEs, and perform other tasks designed to help 

2 non-exporting SMEs become exporters. 

3 (2) ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL.—The Under Sec4 retary shall, in the case of USEACs that are exist5 ing USEACs and not new USEACs established on 

6 the basis of the report, increase the personnel at 

7 those USEACs (by an average of not more than 5 

8 for each USEAC) to the extent necessary to enhance 

9 the ability of the USEACs, through outreach and 

10 provision of services to SMEs, to increase exports by 

11 SMEs, in particular non-exporting SMEs. 

12 (3) TRADE SPECIALISTS.—The Director Gen13 eral shall ensure that specialists in an increased 

14 number of areas are on the staff of USEACs in 

15 order to serve an increased number of SMEs. 

16 (4) COLLABORATION WITH OTHER ENTITIES.— 

17 The Director General shall ensure that staff at each 

18 USEAC is assigned to conduct outreach to and col19 laborate with entities of the States and other non20 Federal entities with respect to export promotion ac21 tivities designed to increase exports by SMEs. 

22 (5) ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL.—The Direc23 tor General shall ensure that USEACs have per24 sonnel dedicated to administrative duties as needed 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
6 

•HR 5437 IH

1 in order to enable other personnel to work more on 

2 client-oriented tasks. 

3 SEC. 5. ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

4 The Under Secretary shall submit to Congress an an5 nual report on the implementation of this Act, including 

6 the actions of the Director General under section 4. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS