[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5203 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5203

              To improve small business export assistance.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 6, 1994

  Mr. Wyden introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
              To improve small business export assistance.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Small Business Export Enhancement 
Act of 1994''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) United States exports are concentrated very heavily 
        among a very few large companies. Only 2 percent of United 
        States businesses account for 85 percent of United States 
        exports.
            (2) Small businesses remain a large untapped resource of 
        potential export growth for the United States economy. However, 
        small businesses with competitive products frequently face high 
        transactions costs and inadequate information about foreign 
        markets which limit their ability to export.
            (3) There is a significant need for export assistance 
        services targeted to smaller exporters. Over 95 percent of 
        United States exporters have annual export sales of less than 
        $5,000,000, and 72 percent of United States export shipments 
        are worth less than $20,000.
            (4) There are over 150 Federal export promotion programs 
        fragmented among 19 different Federal agencies. Federal export 
        promotion activities are characterized by duplication of 
        effort, overlap, inefficient dissemination of services and 
        information, turf battles, and confusion among both providers 
        and users of assistance. The Trade Promotion Coordinating 
        Committee concluded that ``for many small and medium-sized 
        firms, getting through the bureaucracy may be as great a hurdle 
        as foreign market barriers''.
            (5) The National Performance Review concluded that the 
        Federal Government must reallocate its resources to sectors 
        that have clearly shown growth potential while it works to make 
        its services more accessible to clients.
            (6) State-based and private sector organizations frequently 
        have better, more timely information about which companies are 
        ready to export, and exactly what type of help they need, than 
        do Federal providers of export assistance.
            (7) State-based providers of export assistance, including 
        State departments of trade, local industry associations, 
        international freight forwarding companies, local and regional 
        banks, chambers of commerce, and world trade centers, have good 
        local networks to deliver services but their resources are 
        limited in comparison to the Federal Government.
            (8) Effective outreach by export assistance providers is 
        key to providing useful service to small businesses.
            (9) For all companies seeking to export, trade finance is a 
        necessity, and the Federal Government must find ways to help 
        the private sector to deliver trade finance in a useful and 
        profitable way.
            (10) Partnerships between the Federal Government and State-
        based providers of export assistance can more effectively focus 
        export assistance on small businesses. By combining the funds 
        and international resources of the Federal Government with the 
        local networks of State-based providers of export assistance, 
        such partnerships can provide a sharper focus on long-term 
        export market development than do traditional trade promotion 
        activities.

SEC. 3. EXPANDING FEDERAL FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR STATE-BASED EXPORT 
              ENHANCEMENT ACTIVITIES.

    (a) The Market Development Cooperator Program.--There is authorized 
to be appropriated $40,000,000 to provide grants to qualified entities 
for activities described in section 2303 of the Export Enhancement Act 
of 1988.
    (b) The Foreign Buyer Program.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated $2,000,000 to provide financial support, on a shared 
basis, to small businesses to increase the number of small businesses 
participating in activities described in section 2304 of the Export 
Enhancement Act of 1988.
    (c) Trade Missions.--
            (1) The International Trade Administration (ITA) shall 
        establish a grant program to provide financial support, on a 
        shared basis, for foreign trade missions run by State 
        governments and designed primarily for participation by small 
        and medium-sized businesses.
            (2) ITA shall make available for this program no less money 
        than is available for foreign trade missions run by the Federal 
        Government.
            (3) In the selection of trade missions to which the ITA 
        will provide financial support, ITA shall consider the extent 
        to which a proposed trade mission will advance the State's 
        economic development and export promotion strategies.

SEC. 4. DISCRETIONARY FUNDS WITHIN THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE 
              ADMINISTRATION.

    In order to better fulfill its mandate to promote exports of goods 
and services of the United States, particularly by small- and medium-
sized businesses, the International Trade Administration shall make it 
a priority to expand financial support for State-based export 
enhancement activities, using discretionary funds within its budget. 
Such financial support may include matching grants for new or 
experimental State-based export enhancement programs that are not 
specifically authorized by Congress but that have the potential to 
facilitate exporting by small businesses.

SEC. 5. IMPROVING INFORMATION AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE TO 
              HELP SMALL BUSINESSES COMPLY WITH EXPORT CONTROL 
              REQUIREMENTS.

    Not later than one year after the date of enactment of this Act, 
Federal agencies involved in administering controls and regulations 
concerning the export of goods and services from the United States 
shall, in consultation with small businesses, State departments of 
trade, State-based industry trade associations, international freight 
forwarding companies, and other State-based providers of export 
assistance to small businesses, establish and implement a plan to--
            (1) consolidate information regarding rules and 
        restrictions on exports and make it available in a format that 
        is easily accessible by small businesses that seek to export; 
        and
            (2) create an outreach program to inform small businesses 
        seeking to export of relevant rules and restrictions on exports 
        and to provide technical assistance for complying with those 
        rules and restrictions.

SEC. 6. IMPROVING EFFICIENCY TO REALIZE SAVINGS TO PAY FOR IMPROVED 
              SMALL BUSINESS EXPORT ASSISTANCE.

    Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the International Trade Administration, in consultation with other 
Federal agencies that provide export assistance services (including 
trade finance and insurance), shall submit to Congress a plan to 
consolidate or eliminate programs that provide substantially similar 
export assistance services or provide export assistance services to 
substantially similar recipients. The plan shall identify savings of 
not less than $100,000,000 per year, to be achieved primarily through 
improved efficiency, streamlining, and targeting of resources to 
sectors with high export potential.
                                 <all>