I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2543 

To establish a State Trade and Export Promotion Grant Program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 21, 2015 

Mr. LARSEN of Washington (for himself and Mr. REICHERT) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small Business 

A BILL 

To establish a State Trade and Export Promotion Grant 

Program. 

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 ‘‘State Trade and Ex5 port Promotion Utilization Program for American Small 

6 Businesses Act’’ or the ‘‘STEP UP for American Small 

7 Businesses Act’’. 

8 SEC. 2. STATE TRADE AND EXPORT PROMOTION. 

9 Section 22 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 652) 

10 is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating subsection (l) as subsection 

2 (m); and 

3 (2) by inserting after subsection (k) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(l) STATE TRADE AND EXPORT PROMOTION GRANT

6 PROGRAM.— 

7 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

8 ‘‘(A) the term ‘eligible small business con9 cern’ means a business concern that— 

10 ‘‘(i) is organized or incorporated; 

11 ‘‘(ii) is operating in the United States; 

12 ‘‘(iii) meets— 

13 ‘‘(I) the applicable industry-based 

14 small business size standard estab15 lished under section 3; or 

16 ‘‘(II) the alternate size standard 

17 applicable to the program under sec18 tion 7(a) of this Act and the loan pro19 grams under title V of the Small 

20 Business Investment Act of 1958 (15 

21 U.S.C. 695 et seq.); 

22 ‘‘(iv) has been in business for not less 

23 than 1 year, as of the date on which assist24 ance using a grant under this subsection 

25 commences; 


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1 ‘‘(v) is export ready, as determined by 

2 the Associate Administrator; and 

3 ‘‘(vi) has access to sufficient resources 

4 to bear the costs associated with exporting 

5 and doing business with foreign pur6 chasers, including the costs of packing, 

7 shipping, freight forwarding, and customs 

8 brokers; 

9 ‘‘(B) the term ‘program’ means the State 

10 Trade and Export Promotion Grant Program 

11 established under paragraph (2); 

12 ‘‘(C) the term ‘rural small business con13 cern’ means an eligible small business concern 

14 located in a rural area, as that term is defined 

15 in section 1393(a)(2) of the Internal Revenue 

16 Code of 1986; 

17 ‘‘(D) the term ‘socially and economically 

18 disadvantaged small business concern’ has the 

19 meaning given that term in section 8(a)(4)(A) 

20 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

21 637(a)(4)(A)); and 

22 ‘‘(E) the term ‘State’ means each of the 

23 several States, the District of Columbia, the 

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1 lands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the North2 ern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa. 

3 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The As4 sociate Administrator shall establish a trade and ex5 port promotion grant program, to be known as the 

6 ‘State Trade and Export Promotion Grant Pro7 gram’, to make grants to States to carry out export 

8 programs that assist eligible small business concerns 

9 in— 

10 ‘‘(A) participation in a foreign trade mis11 sion; 

12 ‘‘(B) a foreign market sales trip; 

13 ‘‘(C) a subscription to services provided by 

14 the Department of Commerce; 

15 ‘‘(D) the payment of website translation 

16 fees; 

17 ‘‘(E) the design of international marketing 

18 media; 

19 ‘‘(F) a trade show exhibition; 

20 ‘‘(G) participation in training workshops; 

21 ‘‘(H) a reverse trade mission; 

22 ‘‘(I) procurement of foreign consultancy 

23 services (after consultation with the Depart24 ment of Commerce to avoid duplication); or 


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1 ‘‘(J) any other export initiative determined 

2 appropriate by the Associate Administrator. 

3 ‘‘(3) GRANTS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) JOINT REVIEW.—In carrying out the 

5 program, the Associate Administrator may 

6 make a grant to a State to increase the number 

7 of eligible small business concerns in the State 

8 that export and to increase the value of the ex9 ports by eligible small business concerns in the 

10 State. 

11 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In making 

12 grants under this subsection, the Associate Ad13 ministrator may give priority to an application 

14 by a State that proposes an export program 

15 that— 

16 ‘‘(i) focuses on eligible small business 

17 concerns as part of an export promotion 

18 program; 

19 ‘‘(ii) demonstrates intent to promote 

20 exports by— 

21 ‘‘(I) socially and economically 

22 disadvantaged small business con23 cerns; 

24 ‘‘(II) small business concerns 

25 owned or controlled by women; and 


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1 ‘‘(III) rural small business con2 cerns; 

3 ‘‘(iii) promotes exports from a State 

4 that is not 1 of the 10 States with the 

5 highest percentage of exporters that are el6 igible small business concerns, based upon 

7 the most recent data available from the 

8 Department of Commerce; and 

9 ‘‘(iv) includes— 

10 ‘‘(I) activities which have re11 sulted in the highest return on invest12 ment based on the most recent year; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(II) the adoption of shared best 

15 practices included in the annual re16 port of the Administration. 

17 ‘‘(C) LIMITATIONS.— 

18 ‘‘(i) SINGLE APPLICATION.—A State 

19 may not submit more than 1 application 

20 for a grant under the program in any 1 

21 fiscal year. 

22 ‘‘(ii) PROPORTION OF AMOUNTS.—The 

23 total value of grants made under the pro24 gram during a fiscal year to the 10 States 

25 with the highest percentage of exporters 


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1 that are eligible small business concerns, 

2 based upon the most recent data available 

3 from the Department of Commerce, shall 

4 be not more than 40 percent of the 

5 amounts appropriated for the program for 

6 that fiscal year. 

7 ‘‘(iii) DURATION.—The Associate Ad8 ministrator shall award a grant under this 

9 program for a period of not more than 2 

10 years. 

11 ‘‘(D) APPLICATION.— 

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A State desiring a 

13 grant under the program shall submit an 

14 application at such time, in such manner, 

15 and accompanied by such information as 

16 the Associate Administrator may establish. 

17 ‘‘(ii) CONSULTATION TO REDUCE DU18 PLICATION.—A State desiring a grant 

19 under the program shall— 

20 ‘‘(I) before submitting an appli21 cation under clause (i), consult with 

22 applicable trade agencies of the Fed23 eral Government on the scope and 

24 mission of the activities the State pro25 poses to carry out using the grant, to 


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1 ensure proper coordination and reduce 

2 duplication in services; and 

3 ‘‘(II) document the consultation 

4 conducted under subclause (I) in the 

5 application submitted under clause (i). 

6 ‘‘(4) COMPETITIVE BASIS.—The Associate Ad7 ministrator shall award grants under the program 

8 on a competitive basis. 

9 ‘‘(5) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 

10 the cost of an export program carried out using a 

11 grant under the program shall be— 

12 ‘‘(A) for a State that has a high export 

13 volume, as determined by the Associate Admin14 istrator, not more than 65 percent; and 

15 ‘‘(B) for a State that does not have a high 

16 export volume, as determined by the Associate 

17 Administrator, not more than 75 percent. 

18 ‘‘(6) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non-Federal 

19 share of the cost of an export program carried out 

20 using a grant under the program shall be comprised 

21 of not less than 50 percent cash and not more than 

22 50 percent of indirect costs and in-kind contribu23 tions, except that no such costs or contributions may 

24 be derived from funds from any other Federal pro25 gram. 


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1 ‘‘(7) REPORTS.— 

2 ‘‘(A) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 

3 120 days after the date of enactment of this 

4 Act, the Associate Administrator shall submit 

5 to the Committee on Small Business and Entre6 preneurship of the Senate and the Committee 

7 on Small Business of the House of Representa8 tives a report, which shall include— 

9 ‘‘(i) a description of the structure of 

10 and procedures for the program; 

11 ‘‘(ii) a management plan for the pro12 gram; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) a description of the merit-based 

14 review process to be used in the program. 

15 ‘‘(B) ANNUAL REPORTS.— 

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Associate Ad17 ministrator shall publish on the website of 

18 the Administration an annual report re19 garding the program, which shall include— 

20 ‘‘(I) the number and amount of 

21 grants made under the program dur22 ing the preceding year; 

23 ‘‘(II) a list of the States receiving 

24 a grant under the program during the 


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1 preceding year, including the activities 

2 being performed with each grant; 

3 ‘‘(III) the effect of each grant on 

4 exports by eligible small business con5 cerns in the State receiving the grant; 

6 ‘‘(IV) the total return on invest7 ment for each State; and 

8 ‘‘(V) a description of best prac9 tices by States that showed high re10 turns on investment and significant 

11 progress in helping more eligible small 

12 business concerns to export. 

13 ‘‘(ii) NOTICE TO CONGRESS.—On the 

14 date on which the Associate Administrator 

15 publishes a report under clause (i), the As16 sociate Administrator shall notify the Com17 mittee on Small Business and Entrepre18 neurship of the Senate and the Committee 

19 on Small Business of the House of Rep20 resentatives that the report has been pub21 lished. 

22 ‘‘(8) REVIEWS BY INSPECTOR GENERAL.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Inspector General 

24 of the Administration shall conduct a review 

25 of— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the extent to which recipients of 

2 grants under the program are measuring 

3 the performance of the activities being con4 ducted and the results of the measure5 ments; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) the overall management and ef7 fectiveness of the program. 

8 ‘‘(B) REPORTS.— 

9 ‘‘(i) PILOT PROGRAM.—Not later than 

10 6 months after the date of enactment of 

11 the STEP UP for American Small Busi12 nesses Act, the Inspector General of the 

13 Administration shall submit to the Com14 mittee on Small Business and Entrepre15 neurship of the Senate and the Committee 

16 on Small Business of the House of Rep17 resentatives a report regarding the use of 

18 amounts made available under the State 

19 Trade and Export Promotion Grant Pro20 gram under section 1207 of the Small 

21 Business Jobs Act of 2010 (15 U.S.C. 

22 649b note). 

23 ‘‘(ii) NEW STEP PROGRAM.—Not later 

24 than 18 months after the date on which 

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1 section, the Inspector General of the Ad2 ministration shall submit to the Committee 

3 on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

4 of the Senate and the Committee on Small 

5 Business of the House of Representatives a 

6 report regarding the review conducted 

7 under subparagraph (A). 

8 ‘‘(9) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

9 For the purpose of carrying out this subsection, 

10 there are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

11 as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 

12 2016 through 2020.’’. 

Æ 


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