II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 718 

To create jobs in the United States by increasing United States exports 

to Africa by at least 200 percent in real dollar value within 10 years, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 11, 2013 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. COONS, Ms. LANDRIEU, and Mr. 

CARDIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To create jobs in the United States by increasing United 

States exports to Africa by at least 200 percent in real 

dollar value within 10 years, 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 ‘‘Increasing American 

5 Jobs Through Greater Exports to Africa Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find8 ings: 


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1 (1) Export growth helps United States busi2 nesses grow and create American jobs. In 2011, 

3 United States exports supported 9,700,000 jobs and 

4 97.8 percent of United States exports came from 

5 small- and medium-sized businesses in 2010. 

6 (2) The more than 20 Federal agencies that are 

7 involved in export promotion and financing are not 

8 sufficiently coordinated to adequately expand United 

9 States commercial exports to Africa. 

10 (3) The President has taken steps to improve 

11 how the United States Government supports Amer12 ican businesses by mandating an executive review 

13 across agencies and a new Doing Business in Africa 

14 initiative, but a substantially greater high-level focus 

15 on Africa is needed. 

16 (4) Many other countries have trade promotion 

17 programs that aggressively compete against United 

18 States exports in Africa and around the world. For 

19 example, in 2010, medium- and long-term official ex20 port credit general volumes from the Group of 7 

21 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, 

22 the United Kingdom, and the United States) totaled 

23 $65,400,000,000. Germany provided the largest level 

24 of support at $22,500,000,000, followed by France 

25 at $17,400,000,000 and the United States at 


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1 $13,000,000,000. Official export credit support by 

2 emerging market economies such as Brazil, China, 

3 and India are significant as well. 

4 (5) Between 2008 and 2010, China alone pro5 vided more than $110,000,000,000 in loans to the 

6 developing world, and, in 2009, China surpassed the 

7 United States as the leading trade partner of Afri8 can countries. In the last 10 years, African trade 

9 with China has increased from $11,000,000,000 to 

10 $166,000,000,000. 

11 (6) The Export-Import Bank of the United 

12 States substantially increased lending to United 

13 States businesses focused on Africa from 

14 $400,000,000 in 2009 to $1,400,000,000 in 2011, 

15 but the Export-Import Bank of China dwarfed this 

16 effort with an estimated $12,000,000,000 worth of 

17 financing. Overall, China is outpacing the United 

18 States in selling goods to Africa at a rate of 3 to 

19 1. 

20 (7) Other countries such as India, Turkey, Rus21 sia, and Brazil are also aggressively seeking markets 

22 in Africa using their national export banks to pro23 vide concessional assistance. 

24 (8) The Chinese practice of concessional financ25 ing runs contrary to the principles of the OrganizaVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:25 Apr 18, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S718.IS S718

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1 tion of Economic Co-operation and Development re2 lated to open market rates, undermines naturally 

3 competitive rates, and can allow governments in Af4 rica to overlook the troubling record on labor prac5 tices, human rights, and environmental impact. 

6 (9) As stated in a recent report entitled ‘‘Em7 bracing Africa’s Economic Potential’’ by Senator 

8 Chris Coons, ‘‘Economic growth in Africa has risen 

9 dramatically, but the continent’s vast economic po10 tential has not yet been fully realized by the U.S. 

11 Government or the American private sector.’’. 

12 (10) The African continent is undergoing a pe13 riod of rapid growth and middle class development, 

14 as seen from major indicators such as Internet use, 

15 clean water access, and real income growth. In the 

16 last decade alone, the percentage of the population 

17 with access to the Internet has doubled. Seventy18 eight percent of Africa’s rural population now has 

19 access to clean water. Over the past 10 years, real 

20 income per person in Africa has grown by more than 

21 30 percent. 

22 (11) Economists have designated Africa as the 

23 ‘‘next frontier market’’, with profitability of many 

24 African firms and growth rates of African countries 

25 exceeding global averages in recent years. Countries 


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1 in Africa have a collective spending power of almost 

2 $9,000,000,000 and a gross domestic product of 

3 $1,600,000,000,000, which are projected to double 

4 in the next 10 years. 

5 (12) In the past 10 years, Africa has been 

6 home to 6 of the 10 fastest growing economies in 

7 the world. Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to have 

8 the fastest growing economies in the world over the 

9 next 10 years, with 7 of the 10 fastest growing 

10 economies located in sub-Saharan Africa. 

11 (13) When countries such as China assist with 

12 large-scale government projects, they also gain an 

13 upper hand in relations with African leaders and ac14 cess to valuable commodities such as oil and copper, 

15 typically without regard to environmental, human 

16 rights, labor, or governance standards. 

17 (14) Unless the United States can offer com18 petitive financing for its firms in Africa, it will be 

19 deprived of opportunities to participate in African 

20 efforts to close the continent’s significant infrastruc21 ture gap that amounts to an estimated 

22 $100,000,000,000. 

23 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to create 

24 jobs in the United States by expanding programs that will 


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1 result in increasing United States exports to Africa by 200 

2 percent in real dollar value within 10 years. 

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) AFRICA.—The term ‘‘Africa’’ refers to the 

6 entire continent of Africa and its 54 countries, in7 cluding the Republic of South Sudan. 

8 (2) AFRICAN DIASPORA.—The term ‘‘African 

9 diaspora’’ means the people of African origin living 

10 in the United States, irrespective of their citizenship 

11 and nationality, who are willing to contribute to the 

12 development of Africa. 

13 (3) AGOA.—The term ‘‘AGOA’’ means the Af14 rican Growth and Opportunity Act (19 U.S.C. 3701 

15 et seq.). 

16 (4) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT17 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com18 mittees’’ means— 

19 (A) the Committee on Appropriations, the 

20 Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 

21 Affairs, the Committee on Foreign Relations, 

22 and the Committee on Finance of the Senate; 

23 and 

24 (B) the Committee on Appropriations, the 

25 Committee on Energy and Commerce, the ComVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:25 Apr 18, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S718.IS S718

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1 mittee on Financial Services, the Committee on 

2 Foreign Affairs, and the Committee on Ways 

3 and Means of the House of Representatives. 

4 (5) DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES.—The term ‘‘de5 velopment agencies’’ includes the Department of 

6 State, the United States Agency for International 

7 Development (USAID), the Millennium Challenge 

8 Corporation (MCC), the Overseas Private Invest9 ment Corporation (OPIC), the United States Trade 

10 and Development Agency (USTDA), the United 

11 States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and rel12 evant multilateral development banks. 

13 (6) TRADE POLICY STAFF COMMITTEE.—The 

14 term ‘‘Trade Policy Staff Committee’’ means the 

15 Trade Policy Staff Committee established pursuant 

16 to section 2002.2 of title 15, Code of Federal Regu17 lations, and is composed of representatives of Fed18 eral agencies in charge of developing and coordi19 nating United States positions on international trade 

20 and trade-related investment issues. 

21 (7) MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT BANKS.— 

22 The term ‘‘multilateral development banks’’ has the 

23 meaning given that term in section 1701(c)(4) of the 

24 International Financial Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 


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1 262r(c)(4)) and includes the African Development 

2 Foundation. 

3 (8) SUB-SAHARAN REGION.—The term ‘‘sub-Sa4 haran region’’ refers to the 49 countries listed in 

5 section 107 of the African Growth and Opportunity 

6 Act (19 U.S.C. 3706) and includes the Republic of 

7 South Sudan. 

8 (9) TRADE PROMOTION COORDINATING COM9 MITTEE.—The term ‘‘Trade Promotion Coordinating 

10 Committee’’ means the Trade Promotion Coordi11 nating Committee established by Executive Order 

12 12870 (58 Fed. Reg. 51753). 

13 (10) UNITED STATES AND FOREIGN COMMER14 CIAL SERVICE.—The term ‘‘United States and For15 eign Commercial Service’’ means the United States 

16 and Foreign Commercial Service established by sec17 tion 2301 of the Export Enhancement Act of 1988 

18 (15 U.S.C. 4721). 

19 SEC. 4. STRATEGY. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

21 date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall es22 tablish a comprehensive United States strategy for public 

23 and private investment, trade, and development in Africa. 

24 (b) FOCUS OF STRATEGY.—The strategy required by 

25 subsection (a) shall focus on— 


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1 (1) increasing exports of United States goods 

2 and services to Africa by 200 percent in real dollar 

3 value within 10 years from the date of the enact4 ment of this Act; 

5 (2) promoting the alignment of United States 

6 commercial interests with development priorities in 

7 Africa; 

8 (3) developing relationships between the govern9 ments of countries in Africa and United States busi10 nesses that have an expertise in such issues as infra11 structure development, technology, telecommuni12 cations, energy, and agriculture; 

13 (4) improving the competitiveness of United 

14 States businesses in Africa, including the role the 

15 African diaspora can play in enhancing such com16 petitiveness; 

17 (5) exploring ways that African diaspora remit18 tances can help communities in Africa tackle eco19 nomic, development, and infrastructure financing 

20 needs; 

21 (6) promoting economic integration in Africa 

22 through working with the subregional economic com23 munities, supporting efforts for deeper integration 

24 through the development of customs unions within 

25 western and central Africa and within eastern and 


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1 southern Africa, eliminating time-consuming border 

2 formalities into and within these areas, and sup3 porting regionally based infrastructure projects; 

4 (7) encouraging a greater understanding among 

5 United States business and financial communities of 

6 the opportunities Africa holds for United States ex7 ports; 

8 (8) fostering partnership opportunities between 

9 United States and African small- and medium-sized 

10 enterprises; and 

11 (9) monitoring— 

12 (A) market loan rates and the availability 

13 of capital for United States business investment 

14 in Africa; 

15 (B) loan rates offered by the governments 

16 of other countries for investment in Africa; and 

17 (C) the policies of other countries with re18 spect to export financing for investment in Afri19 ca that are predatory or distort markets. 

20 (c) CONSULTATIONS.—In developing the strategy re21 quired by subsection (a), the President shall consult 

22 with— 

23 (1) Congress; 

24 (2) each agency that is a member of the Trade 

25 Promotion Coordinating Committee; 


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1 (3) the relevant multilateral development banks, 

2 in coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury 

3 and the respective United States Executive Directors 

4 of such banks; 

5 (4) each agency that participates in the Trade 

6 Policy Staff Committee; 

7 (5) the President’s National Export Council; 

8 (6) each of the development agencies; 

9 (7) any other Federal agencies with responsi10 bility for export promotion or financing and develop11 ment; and 

12 (8) the private sector, including businesses, 

13 nongovernmental organizations, and African dias14 pora groups. 

15 (d) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.— 

16 (1) STRATEGY.—Not later than 180 days after 

17 the date of the enactment of this Act, the President 

18 shall submit to Congress the strategy required by 

19 subsection (a). 

20 (2) PROGRESS REPORT.—Not later than 3 

21 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

22 President shall submit to Congress a report on the 

23 implementation of the strategy required by sub24 section (a). 


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1 (3) CONTENT OF REPORT.—The report re2 quired by paragraph (2) shall include an assessment 

3 of the extent to which the strategy required by sub4 section (a)— 

5 (A) has been successful in developing crit6 ical analyses of policies to increase exports to 

7 Africa; 

8 (B) has been successful in increasing the 

9 competitiveness of United States businesses in 

10 Africa; 

11 (C) has been successful in creating jobs in 

12 the United States, including the nature and 

13 sustainability of such jobs; 

14 (D) has provided sufficient United States 

15 Government support to meet third country com16 petition in the region; 

17 (E) has been successful in helping the Af18 rican diaspora in the United States participate 

19 in economic growth in Africa; 

20 (F) has been successful in promoting eco21 nomic integration in Africa; and 

22 (G) has made a meaningful contribution to 

23 the transformation of Africa and its full inte24 gration into the 21st century world economy, 

25 not only as a supplier of primary products but 


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1 also as full participant in international supply 

2 and distribution chains and as a consumer of 

3 international goods and services. 

4 SEC. 5. SPECIAL AFRICA STRATEGY COORDINATOR. 

5 The President shall designate an individual to serve 

6 as Special Africa Export Strategy Coordinator— 

7 (1) to oversee the development and implementa8 tion of the strategy required by section 4; and 

9 (2) to coordinate with the Trade Promotion Co10 ordinating Committee, (the interagency AGOA com11 mittees), and development agencies with respect to 

12 developing and implementing the strategy. 

13 SEC. 6. TRADE MISSION TO AFRICA. 

14 It is the sense of Congress that, not later than 1 year 

15 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

16 of Commerce and other high-level officials of the United 

17 States Government with responsibility for export pro18 motion, financing, and development should conduct a joint 

19 trade mission to Africa. 

20 SEC. 7. PERSONNEL. 

21 (a) UNITED STATES AND FOREIGN COMMERCIAL

22 SERVICE.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce 

24 shall ensure that not less than 10 total United 

25 States and Foreign Commercial Service officers are 


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1 assigned to Africa for each of the first 5 fiscal years 

2 beginning after the date of the enactment of this 

3 Act. 

4 (2) ASSIGNMENT.—The Secretary shall, in con5 sultation with the Trade Promotion Coordinating 

6 Committee and the Special Africa Export Strategy 

7 Coordinator, assign the United States and Foreign 

8 Commercial Service officers described in paragraph 

9 (1) to United States embassies in Africa after con10 ducting a timely resource allocation analysis that 

11 represents a forward-looking assessment of future 

12 United States trade opportunities in Africa. 

13 (3) MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT BANKS.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable 

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

16 Secretary of Commerce shall, using existing 

17 staff, assign not less than 1 full-time United 

18 States and Foreign Commercial Service officer 

19 to the office of the United States Executive Di20 rector at the World Bank and the African De21 velopment Bank. 

22 (B) RESPONSIBILITIES.—Each United 

23 States and Foreign Commercial Service officer 

24 assigned under subparagraph (A) shall be re25 sponsible for— 


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1 (i) increasing the access of United 

2 States businesses to procurement contracts 

3 with the multilateral development bank to 

4 which the officer is assigned; and 

5 (ii) facilitating the access of United 

6 States businesses to risk insurance, equity 

7 investments, consulting services, and lend8 ing provided by that bank. 

9 (b) EXPORT-IMPORT BANK OF THE UNITED

10 STATES.—Of the amounts collected by the Export-Import 

11 Bank that remain after paying the expenses the Bank is 

12 authorized to pay from such amounts for administrative 

13 expenses, the Bank shall use sufficient funds to do the 

14 following: 

15 (1) Increase the number of staff dedicated to 

16 expanding business development for Africa, including 

17 increasing the number of business development trips 

18 the Bank conducts to Africa and the amount of time 

19 staff spends in Africa to meet the goals set forth in 

20 section 9 and paragraph (4) of section 6(a) of the 

21 Export-Import Bank of 1945, as added by section 

22 9(a)(2). 

23 (2) Maintain an appropriate number of employ24 ees of the Bank assigned to United States field of25 fices of the Bank to be distributed as geographically 


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1 appropriate through the United States. Such offices 

2 shall coordinate with the related export efforts un3 dertaken by the Small Business Administration re4 gional field offices. 

5 (3) Upgrade the Bank’s equipment and soft6 ware to more expeditiously, effectively, and effi7 ciently process and track applications for financing 

8 received by the Bank. 

9 (c) OVERSEAS PRIVATE INVESTMENT CORPORA10 TION.— 

11 (1) STAFFING.—Of the net offsetting collections 

12 collected by the Overseas Private Investment Cor13 poration used for administrative expenses, the Cor14 poration shall use sufficient funds to increase by not 

15 more than 5 the staff needed to promote stable and 

16 sustainable economic growth and development in Af17 rica, to strengthen and expand the private sector in 

18 Africa, and to facilitate the general economic devel19 opment of Africa, with a particular focus on helping 

20 United States businesses expand into African mar21 kets. 

22 (2) REPORT.—The Corporation shall report to 

23 the appropriate congressional committees on whether 

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1 fective and efficient processing and tracking of appli2 cations for financing received by the Corporation. 

3 (3) CERTAIN COSTS NOT CONSIDERED ADMINIS4 TRATIVE EXPENSES.—For purposes of this sub5 section, systems infrastructure costs associated with 

6 activities authorized by title IV of chapter 2 of part 

7 I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 

8 231 et seq.) shall not be considered administrative 

9 expenses. 

10 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec11 tion shall be construed as permitting the reduction of De12 partment of Commerce, Department of State, Export-Im13 port Bank, or Overseas Private Investment Corporation 

14 personnel or the alteration of planned personnel increases 

15 in other regions, except where a personnel decrease was 

16 previously anticipated or where decreased export opportu17 nities justify personnel reductions. 

18 SEC. 8. TRAINING. 

19 The President shall develop a plan— 

20 (1) to standardize the training received by 

21 United States and Foreign Commercial Service offi22 cers, economic officers of the Department of State, 

23 and economic officers of the United States Agency 

24 for International Development with respect to the 

25 programs and procedures of the Export-Import 


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1 Bank of the United States, the Overseas Private In2 vestment Corporation, the Small Business Adminis3 tration, and the United States Trade and Develop4 ment Agency; and 

5 (2) to ensure that, not later than 1 year after 

6 the date of the enactment of this Act— 

7 (A) all United States and Foreign Com8 mercial Service officers that are stationed over9 seas receive the training described in paragraph 

10 (1); and 

11 (B) in the case of a country to which no 

12 United States and Foreign Commercial Service 

13 officer is assigned, any economic officer of the 

14 Department of State stationed in that country 

15 shall receive that training. 

16 SEC. 9. EXPORT-IMPORT BANK FINANCING. 

17 (a) FINANCING FOR PROJECTS IN AFRICA.— 

18 (1) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

19 Congress that foreign export credit agencies are pro20 viding non-OECD arrangement compliant financing 

21 in Africa, which is trade distorting and threatens 

22 United States jobs. 

23 (2) IN GENERAL.—Section 6(a) of the Export24 Import Bank Act of 1945 (12 U.S.C. 635e(a)) is 

25 amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(4) PERCENT OF FINANCING TO BE USED FOR

2 PROJECTS IN AFRICA.—The Bank shall, to the ex3 tent that there are acceptable final applications, in4 crease the amount it finances to Africa over the 

5 prior year’s financing for each of the first five fiscal 

6 years beginning after the date of the enactment of 

7 the Increasing American Jobs Through Greater Ex8 ports to Africa Act of 2013.’’. 

9 (3) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

10 date of the enactment of this Act, and annually 

11 thereafter for 5 years, the Export-Import Bank shall 

12 report to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

13 Urban Affairs, the Committee on Foreign Relations, 

14 and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate 

15 and the Committee on Financial Services, the Com16 mittee on Foreign Affairs, and the Committee on 

17 Appropriations of the House of Representatives if 

18 the Bank has not used at least 10 percent of its 

19 lending capabilities for projects in Africa as de20 scribed in paragraph (4) of section 6(a) of the Ex21 port-Import Bank of 1945, as added by paragraph 

22 (2). The report shall include the reasons why the 

23 Bank failed to reach this goal and a description of 

24 all final applications for projects in Africa that were 

25 deemed unworthy of Bank support. 


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1 (b) AVAILABILITY OF PORTION OF CAPITALIZATION

2 TO COMPETE AGAINST FOREIGN CONCESSIONAL

3 LOANS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Bank shall make avail5 able annually such amounts as are necessary for 

6 loans that counter trade distorting non-OECD ar7 rangement compliant financing or preferential, tied 

8 aid, or other related non-market loans offered by 

9 other nations for which United States companies are 

10 also competing or interested in competing. 

11 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

12 date of the enactment of this Act, and annually 

13 thereafter for 5 years, the Export-Import Bank shall 

14 submit to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

15 Urban Affairs, the Committee on Foreign Relations, 

16 and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate 

17 and the Committee on Financial Services, the Com18 mittee on Foreign Affairs, and the Committee on 

19 Appropriations of the House of Representatives a re20 port on all loans made or rejected that were consid21 ered to counter non-OECD arrangement compliant 

22 financing offered by other nations to its firms. The 

23 report shall not disclose any information that is con24 fidential or business proprietary, or that would vio25 late section 1905 of title 18, United States Code 


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1 (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Trade Secrets Act’’). 

2 The report shall include a description of trade dis3 torting non-OECD arrangement compliant financing 

4 loans made by other countries during that fiscal year 

5 to firms that competed against the United States 

6 firms. 

7 SEC. 10. SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION. 

8 Section 22(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

9 649(b)) is amended— 

10 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

11 inserting ‘‘the Trade Promotion Coordinating Com12 mittee,’’ after ‘‘Director of the United States Trade 

13 and Development Agency,’’; and 

14 (2) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘regional of15 fices of the Export-Import Bank,’’ after ‘‘Retired 

16 Executives,’’. 

17 SEC. 11. BILATERAL, SUBREGIONAL AND REGIONAL, AND 

18 MULTILATERAL AGREEMENTS. 

19 Where applicable, the President shall explore oppor20 tunities to negotiate bilateral, subregional, and regional 

21 agreements that encourage trade and eliminate nontariff 

22 barriers to trade between countries, such as negotiating 

23 investor friendly double-taxation treaties and investment 

24 promotion agreements. United States negotiators in multi25 lateral forum should take into account the objectives of 


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1 this Act. To the extent any such agreements exist between 

2 the United States and an African country, the President 

3 shall ensure that the agreement is being implemented in 

4 a manner that maximizes the positive effects for United 

5 States trade, export, and labor interests as well as the eco6 nomic development of the countries in Africa. 

Æ 


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