Some Members of Congress believe the contributions of small businesses to commercial innovation and economic growth could be enhanced through greater access to growing international markets. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, small businesses (i.e., firms with fewer than 500 employees) comprised 97.7% of all U.S. exporting firms in 2014, but these businesses account for 33.4% of the value of exports. Only 1% of small businesses in the United States export. With roughly three-quarters of world purchasing power and almost 95% of world consumers living outside U.S. borders, more attention is being paid to the potential of small business programs to increase employment in the export sector. Advocates of export promotion programs also argue that helping small businesses to export will lead to more jobs. A commonly held view is that small businesses are the major source of job creation in the U.S. economy and thus policymakers should try to encourage the growth of small businesses as a means to increase employment. Economists have debated for decades the extent to which small businesses contribute to job creation. More recent studies indicate that small business owners have different aspirations concerning the growth of their firms and that small, new firms (i.e., startups) are more likely to expand than small businesses generally. Economists generally do not view job creation as a justification for providing federal assistance to small businesses. They argue that in the long term such assistance will likely reallocate jobs within the economy, not increase them. In their view, jobs arise primarily from the size of the labor force, which depends largely on population, demographics, and factors that affect the choice of home versus market production. This report begins with the history, role, and scope of the Small Business Administration's (SBA's) export promotion activities and the creation of SBA's Office of International Trade (OIT). OIT is charged with coordinating SBA's export promotion activities, including management and training programs, grants, and loan programs. Next, the report describes the three major forms of SBA trade-related assistance: (1) export-promotion-focused loans, (2) management and training programs, and (3) the State Trade Expansion Promotion (STEP) grant program. It then uses quantitative data from SBA and qualitative data from other sources to present performance analysis of SBA's international programs. The report also discusses three policy issues for Congress. First, are there market barriers impeding smaller firms from exporting? Second, is there a compelling interest for the government to promote exports in the name of national "competitiveness"? Third, are SBA's export promotion policies duplicative of other federal programs? These policy issues could arise in future debates over the size and scope of SBA's international trade programs. This debate will likely be framed by the issues of fiscal responsibility and the promotion of economic opportunities for firms and employees. SBA provides export promotion and financing services to small businesses through its business loan programs, management and training programs, and other initiatives. SBA's OIT coordinates these activities as it assists with four stages of export promotion: (1) identifying small businesses interested in export promotion, (2) preparing small businesses to export, (3) connecting small businesses to export opportunities, and (4) supporting small businesses once they find export opportunities. SBA also participates in the regional network of U.S. Export Assistance Centers, which are managed by the Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration. Despite its name, OIT primarily encourages export promotion rather than international trade, generally. None of OIT's programs have a specific goal to help small businesses gain access to lower-cost or specialized imports, such as for use as inputs in their production processes. This export-oriented focus is consistent with other federal agencies. OIT's programs are funded through a combination of the SBA's appropriations for business loan programs (i.e., subsidy costs) and for salaries and expenses. Congress does not directly provide an appropriation amount for each of the SBA's three export-focused loan programs or for trade-related counseling provided through SBA's management and training programs. Table 1 provides OIT's total program costs from FY2007 to FY2016 and the President's budget request for FY2017. Total program costs include obligations covering the full cost for administering OIT's major programs and services. This includes direct costs from the operating budget plus compensation and benefits; agency-wide costs, such as rent and telecommunications; and indirect costs, such as agency overhead (e.g., financial management). In terms of scale, OIT's total program costs of $9.5 million in FY2016 accounted for approximately 1.4% of SBA's total program obligations for the year (not including disaster assistance). For FY2015, OIT's total program costs were approximately $9.0 million. For FY2017, the President requested that $9.5 million be funded toward the total cost of OIT's programs (with an exact increase of $20,000 compared with the enacted amount for FY2016). Before December 2010, OIT was a division within SBA's Office of Capital Access. It was led by the director for International Trade, who reported to the associate administrator (AA) for Capital Access. The Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 ( P.L. 111-240 ) required the SBA administrator to appoint an AA for International Trade no later than December 27, 2010. Accordingly, OIT's reporting structure was realigned such that the AA for International Trade now reports directly to the Office of the SBA Administrator. On December 23, 2010, the SBA administrator approved the reorganization that included the formation of the OIT and appointed the first AA for International Trade in August 2011. These administrative changes were intended to raise the profile of SBA's export promotion activities within the agency. SBA is one of several federal agencies that assist in the promotion of small business exports and in export promotion more generally. SBA's website provides a table of federal programs that help to finance small business exports. Most of these federal programs are located within other organizations, such as the Export-Import Bank of the United States, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. SBA is also member of the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee (TPCC), an interagency committee whose objective is to coordinate and set priorities for federal agencies involved in export promotion. The TPCC then proposes a unified export promotion budget to the President. The TPCC is composed of 20 member agencies, including the Department of Commerce, Export-Import Bank, SBA, Department of State, U.S. Trade Representative, and Department of the Treasury. The Secretary of Commerce chairs the TPCC. SBA identifies small businesses interested in export promotion through a combination of informational and financial programs. Technically speaking, all of the SBA's loan programs can be used by small businesses looking to begin exporting or expand their current exporting operations. Indeed, many of SBA's loan programs contribute to this mission (discussed in the " Data Analysis of Performance " section of this report). SBA has three loan programs that specifically focus on export promotion: Export Express loan program , which provides working capital or fixed asset financing for small businesses that will begin or expand exporting; Export Working Capital loan program , which provides financing to support export orders or the export transaction cycle, from purchase order to final payment; and International Trade loan program , which provides long-term financing to support small businesses that are expanding because of growing export sales or have been adversely affected by imports and need to modernize to meet foreign competition. Table 2 summarizes the key features of SBA's three export promotion-focused loan programs. To encourage the demand for smaller loans, the SBA waived the up-front loan guaranty fee and ongoing servicing fee for 7(a) loans (including export-focused programs) of $150,000 or less in FY2014-FY2016; waived the up-front loan guaranty fee for 7(a) loans of $150,000 or less in FY2017; waived 50% of the up-front loan guaranty fee on all non-SBA Express (including Export Express) 7(a) loans of $150,001 up to and including $5 million in FY2015 and FY2016; and waived 50% of the up-front loan guaranty fee on all non-SBA Express (including Export Express) 7(a) loans of $150,001 up to and including $500,000 in FY2017. In addition, the Veterans Entrepreneurship Act of 2015 ( P.L. 114-38 ) authorized and made permanent the SBA's practice of waiving the SBAExpress loan program's one time, up-front guaranty fee for veterans (and their spouse) beginning on or after October 1, 2015, except during any upcoming fiscal year for which the President's budget, submitted to Congress, includes a subsidy cost for the 7(a) program, in its entirety, that is above zero. In addition to these export promotion-focused programs, SBA also supports small business exports through its other business loan programs. These programs include the 504 Certified Development Company (504/CDC) program, standard 7(a) program, and specialized 7(a) programs (see the Appendix for a brief summary of these loan programs). The size of the export activity within each of these programs is discussed in the " Data Analysis of Performance " section of this report. In many ways, SBA's export promotion loan programs share similar characteristics to other SBA loan programs. For example, the Export Express program resembles the SBA Express program.