II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1196 

To amend the Small Business Act to improve the Office of International 

Trade, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 8, 2009 

Ms. LANDRIEU introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act to improve the Office 

of International Trade, 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 ‘‘Small Business Inter5 national Trade Enhancements Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION ASSOCIATE AD7 MINISTRATOR FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Section 22 of the Small Busi9 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 649) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘SEC. 22. (a) There’’ and in2 serting the following: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 22. OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE. 

4 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

5 ‘‘(1) OFFICE.—There’’; and 

6 (2) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(2) ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR.—The head of 

9 the Office shall be the Associate Administrator for 

10 International Trade, who shall be responsible to the 

11 Administrator.’’. 

12 (b) AUTHORITY FOR ADDITIONAL ASSOCIATE AD13 MINISTRATOR.—Section 4(b)(1) of the Small Business Act 

14 (15 U.S.C. 633(b)(1)) is amended— 

15 (1) in the fifth sentence, by striking ‘‘five Asso16 ciate Administrators’’ and inserting ‘‘Associate Ad17 ministrators’’; and 

18 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘One 

19 such Associate Administrator shall be the Associate 

20 Administrator for International Trade, who shall be 

21 the head of the Office of International Trade estab22 lished under section 22.’’. 

23 (c) DISCHARGE OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE RESPON24 SIBILITIES OF ADMINISTRATION.—Section 22 of the Small 


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1 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 649) is amended by adding at 

2 the end the following: 

3 ‘‘(h) DISCHARGE OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE RE4 SPONSIBILITIES OF ADMINISTRATION.—The Adminis5 trator shall ensure that— 

6 ‘‘(1) the responsibilities of the Administration 

7 regarding international trade are carried out by the 

8 Associate Administrator; 

9 ‘‘(2) the Associate Administrator has sufficient 

10 resources to carry out such responsibilities; and 

11 ‘‘(3) the Associate Administrator has direct su12 pervision and control over— 

13 ‘‘(A) the staff of the Office; and 

14 ‘‘(B) any employee of the Administration 

15 whose principal duty station is an Export As16 sistance Center, or any successor entity.’’. 

17 (d) ROLE OF ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR IN CAR18 RYING OUT INTERNATIONAL TRADE POLICY.—Section 

19 2(b)(1) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631(b)(1)) 

20 is amended in the matter preceding subparagraph (A)— 

21 (1) by inserting ‘‘the Administrator of’’ before 

22 ‘‘the Small Business Administration’’; and 

23 (2) by inserting ‘‘through the Associate Admin24 istrator for International Trade, and’’ before ‘‘in co25 operation with’’. 


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1 (e) IMPLEMENTATION DATE.—Not later than 90 

2 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis3 trator of the Small Business Administration shall appoint 

4 an Associate Administrator for International Trade under 

5 section 22(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

6 649(a)), as added by this section. 

7 SEC. 3. OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE. 

8 (a) AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 22.—Section 22 of 

9 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 649) is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (b)— 

11 (A) by striking ‘‘(b) The Office’’ and in12 serting the following: 

13 ‘‘(b) TRADE DISTRIBUTION NETWORK.—The Asso14 ciate Administrator’’; 

15 (B) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

16 by inserting ‘‘Export Assistance Centers,’’ after 

17 ‘‘export promotion efforts,’’; and 

18 (C) by amending paragraph (1) to read as 

19 follows: 

20 ‘‘(1) assist in maintaining a distribution net21 work, using regional and local offices of the Admin22 istration, the small business development center net23 work, networks of women’s business centers, and 

24 Export Assistance Centers for programs relating 

25 to— 


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1 ‘‘(A) trade promotion; 

2 ‘‘(B) trade finance; 

3 ‘‘(C) trade adjustment assistance; 

4 ‘‘(D) trade remedy assistance; and 

5 ‘‘(E) trade data collection;’’; 

6 (2) in subsection (c)— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘(c) The Office’’ and in8 serting the following: 

9 ‘‘(c) PROMOTION OF SALES OPPORTUNITIES.—The 

10 Associate Administrator’’; 

11 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 

12 through (8) as paragraphs (2) through (9), re13 spectively; 

14 (C) by inserting before paragraph (2), as 

15 so redesignated, the following: 

16 ‘‘(1) establish annual goals for the Office relat17 ing to— 

18 ‘‘(A) enhancing the exporting capability of 

19 small business concerns and small manufactur20 ers; 

21 ‘‘(B) facilitating technology transfers; 

22 ‘‘(C) enhancing programs and services to 

23 assist small business concerns and small manu24 facturers to compete effectively and efficiently 

25 against foreign entities; 


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1 ‘‘(D) increasing the ability of small busi2 ness concerns to access capital; 

3 ‘‘(E) disseminating information concerning 

4 Federal, State, and private programs and initia5 tives; and 

6 ‘‘(F) ensuring that the interests of small 

7 business concerns are adequately represented in 

8 trade negotiations;’’; 

9 (D) in paragraph (2), as so redesignated, 

10 by striking ‘‘mechanism for’’ and all that fol11 lows through ‘‘(D) assisting’’ and inserting the 

12 following: ‘‘mechanism for— 

13 ‘‘(A) identifying subsectors of the small 

14 business community with strong export poten15 tial; 

16 ‘‘(B) identifying areas of demand in for17 eign markets; 

18 ‘‘(C) prescreening foreign buyers for com19 mercial and credit purposes; and 

20 ‘‘(D) assisting’’; 

21 (E) in paragraph (5)(A), as so redesig22 nated, by striking ‘‘Gross State Produce’’ and 

23 inserting ‘‘Gross State Product’’; 


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1 (F) in paragraph (6), as so redesignated, 

2 by striking the period at the end and inserting 

3 a semicolon; and 

4 (G) in paragraph (9), as so redesignated— 

5 (i) in the matter preceding subpara6 graph (A)— 

7 (I) by striking ‘‘full-time export 

8 development specialists to each Ad9 ministration regional office and as10 signing’’; and 

11 (II) by striking ‘‘office. Such spe12 cialists’’ and inserting ‘‘office and pro13 viding each Administration regional 

14 office with a full-time export develop15 ment specialist, who’’; 

16 (ii) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

17 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

18 (iii) in subparagraph (E), by striking 

19 the period at the end and inserting a semi20 colon; and 

21 (iv) by adding at the end the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(F) participate, jointly with employees of 

24 the Office, in an annual training program that 


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1 focuses on current small business needs for ex2 porting; and 

3 ‘‘(G) develop and conduct training pro4 grams for exporters and lenders, in cooperation 

5 with the Export Assistance Centers, the De6 partment of Commerce, small business develop7 ment centers, and other relevant Federal agen8 cies.’’; 

9 (3) in subsection (d)— 

10 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 

11 through (5) as clauses (i) through (v), respec12 tively, and adjusting the margins accordingly; 

13 (B) by striking ‘‘(d) The Office’’ and in14 serting the following: 

15 ‘‘(d) EXPORT FINANCING PROGRAMS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Associate Adminis17 trator’’; and 

18 (C) by striking ‘‘To accomplish this goal, 

19 the Office shall work’’ and inserting the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(2) TRADE FINANCE SPECIALIST.—To accom22 plish the goal established under paragraph (1), the 

23 Associate Administrator shall— 

24 ‘‘(A) designate at least 1 individual within 

25 the Administration as a trade finance specialist 


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1 to oversee international loan programs and as2 sist Administration employees with trade fi3 nance issues; and 

4 ‘‘(B) work’’; 

5 (4) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘(e) The Of6 fice’’ and inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘(e) TRADE REMEDIES.—The Associate Adminis8 trator’’; 

9 (5) by amending subsection (f) to read as fol10 lows: 

11 ‘‘(f) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—The Associate Ad12 ministrator shall submit an annual report to the Com13 mittee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the 

14 Senate and the Committee on Small Business of the 

15 House of Representatives that contains— 

16 ‘‘(1) a description of the progress of the Office 

17 in implementing the requirements of this section; 

18 ‘‘(2) for any travel by the staff of the Office, 

19 the destination of such travel and the benefits to the 

20 Administration and to small business concerns re21 sulting from such travel; and 

22 ‘‘(3) a description of the participation by the 

23 Office in trade negotiations.’’; 

24 (6) in subsection (g), by striking (g) The Office 

25 and inserting the following: 


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1 ‘‘(g) STUDIES.—The Associate Administrator’’; and 

2 (7) by adding after subsection (h), as addded 

3 by section 2 of this Act, the following: 

4 ‘‘(i) EXPORT ASSISTANCE CENTERS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—During the period begin6 ning on October 1, 2009, and ending on September 

7 30, 2012, the Administrator shall ensure that the 

8 number of full-time equivalent employees of the Of9 fice assigned to the Export Assistance Centers is not 

10 less than the number of such employees so assigned 

11 on January 1, 2003. 

12 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY OF PLACEMENT.—The Adminis13 trator shall give priority, to the maximum extent 

14 practicable, to placing employees of the Administra15 tion at any Export Assistance Center that— 

16 ‘‘(A) had an Administration employee as17 signed to the Export Assistance Center before 

18 January 2003; and 

19 ‘‘(B) has not had an Administration em20 ployee assigned to the Export Assistance Center 

21 during the period beginning January 2003, and 

22 ending on the date of enactment of this sub23 section, either through retirement or reassign24 ment. 


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1 ‘‘(3) NEEDS OF EXPORTERS.—The Adminis2 trator shall, to the maximum extent practicable, 

3 strategically assign Administration employees to Ex4 port Assistance Centers, based on the needs of ex5 porters. 

6 ‘‘(4) GOALS.—The Associate Administrator 

7 shall work with the Department of Commerce and 

8 the Export-Import Bank to establish shared annual 

9 goals for the Export Assistance Centers. 

10 ‘‘(5) OVERSIGHT.—The Associate Adminis11 trator shall designate an individual within the Ad12 ministration to oversee all activities conducted by 

13 Administration employees assigned to Export Assist14 ance Centers. 

15 ‘‘(j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

16 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Associate Administrator’ means 

17 the Associate Administrator for International Trade 

18 described in subsection (a)(2); 

19 ‘‘(2) the term ‘Export Assistance Center’ means 

20 a one-stop shop for United States exporters estab21 lished by the United States and Foreign Commercial 

22 Service of the Department of Commerce pursuant to 

23 section 2301(b)(8) of the Omnibus Trade and Com24 petitiveness Act of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 4721(b)(8)); 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(3) the term ‘Office’ means the Office of 

2 International Trade established under subsection 

3 (a)(1).’’. 

4 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the date 

5 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit 

6 a report to the Committee on Small Business and Entre7 preneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small 

8 Business of the House of Representatives on any travel 

9 by the staff of the Office of International Trade of the 

10 Administration, including the destination of such travel 

11 and the benefits to the Administration and to small busi12 ness concerns resulting from such travel. 

13 SEC. 4. INTERNATIONAL TRADE LOANS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7(a)(3)(B) of the Small 

15 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)(3)(B)) is amended by 

16 striking ‘‘$1,750,000, of which not more than 

17 $1,250,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$2,750,000 (or if the gross 

18 loan amount would exceed $3,670,000), of which not more 

19 than $2,000,000’’. 

20 (b) WORKING CAPITAL.—Section 7(a)(16)(A) of the 

21 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)(16)(A)) is amend22 ed— 

23 (1) in the matter preceding clause (i), by strik24 ing ‘‘in—’’ and inserting ‘‘—’’; 

25 (2) in clause (i)— 


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1 (A) by inserting ‘‘in’’ after ‘‘(i)’’; and 

2 (B) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 

3 (3) in clause (ii)— 

4 (A) by inserting ‘‘in’’ after ‘‘(ii)’’; and 

5 (B) by striking the period at the end and 

6 inserting ‘‘, including any debt that qualifies for 

7 refinancing under any other provision of this 

8 subsection; or’’; and 

9 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(iii) by providing working capital.’’. 

11 (c) COLLATERAL.—Section 7(a)(16)(B) of the Small 

12 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)(16)(B)) is amended— 

13 (1) by striking ‘‘Each loan’’ and inserting the 

14 following: 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro16 vided in clause (ii), each loan’’; and 

17 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—A loan under this 

19 paragraph may be secured by a second lien 

20 position on the property or equipment fi21 nanced by the loan or on other assets of 

22 the small business concern, if the Adminis23 trator determines the lien provides ade24 quate assurance of the payment of the 

25 loan.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS RELATING TO ASSISTANT 

2 UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE 

3 FOR SMALL BUSINESS. 

4 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) According to the Office of Advocacy of the 

6 Small Business Administration, small business con7 cerns (as that term is defined in section 3 of the 

8 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632)) represent 97 

9 percent of all exporters in the United States and ac10 count for 29 percent of the total exporting volume. 

11 Despite the overwhelming majority of exporters that 

12 are small business concerns, fewer than 1 percent of 

13 all small business concerns in the United States are 

14 engaged in trade-related business activities. 

15 (2) According to the Office of Advocacy of the 

16 Small Business Administration, more than 72 per17 cent of all exporters in the United States employ 

18 fewer than 20 employees. Small business concerns 

19 often do not have the sales volume or resources to 

20 overcome the costs of trade barriers and overhead 

21 expenses in international transactions, nor can small 

22 business concerns afford to maintain employees with 

23 international trade expertise to resolve trade prob24 lems. 

25 (3) Small business advocacy groups often lack 

26 political influence in foreign countries, which hinders 


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1 efforts to solve problems outside the legal process. 

2 Small business advocates are not as visible or vocal 

3 on issues relating to international trade as are the 

4 advocates for other issues, due to a lack of resources 

5 for advocacy. 

6 (4) In 1988, Congress passed section 8012 of 

7 the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 

8 1988 (15 U.S.C. 631 note), which expressed the 

9 sense of Congress that the United States Trade 

10 Representative should appoint a special trade assist11 ant for small business. As of June 2009, the posi12 tion has not been established by the United States 

13 Trade Representative. 

14 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con15 gress that the United States Trade Representative should 

16 establish the position of Assistant United States Trade 

17 Representative for Small Business, to— 

18 (1) promote the trade interests of small busi19 ness concerns; 

20 (2) identify and address foreign trade barriers 

21 that impede the exportation of goods by small busi22 ness concerns; 

23 (3) ensure that small business concerns are 

24 adequately represented during trade negotiations by 

25 the United States Trade Representative; and 


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1 (4) coordinate with other Federal agencies that 

2 are responsible for providing information or assist3 ance to small business concerns. 

Æ 


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