Washington, DC— House Small Business Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO) today held a full committee hearing to examine the National Export Strategy and the effect that bureaucratic obstacles are having on small exporters. With over 20 federal agencies involved in the exporting process, many small firms have voiced concern about the difficulty of maneuvering through the bureaucracy and regulations.

“With just one percent of the 28 million small businesses in American exporting, there is great untapped potential for economic growth and job creation,” said Graves. “However, in order to spur more small companies to export, we must lower trade barriers, improve agency coordination, and reduce complicated bureaucracy.

“If the President wants to double exports by 2014, the first step in doing this should be to pass the pending free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea to level the global playing field. We must also streamline the trade process and reduce costly federal regulations and procedural requirements. Most small businesses lack the capital and manpower to navigate complex trade barriers and as a result, many simply do not export. Decreasing these barriers would open the door for more small firms to compete in the world marketplace.

“In 2010, U.S. exports accounted for nearly 12 percent of the GDP and supported an estimated 10 million jobs, including about four million small business jobs. Passing the pending trade agreements and eliminating needless red tape would be an instant catalyst to spark growth in our economy and get Americans back on the job.” 

Click HERE for hearing related documents.

Notable Witness Quotes:

Mitchell Goetze, President and COO of Goetze's Candy Company, Inc. in Baltimore, MD and testifying on behalf of the National Confectioners Association, said, “Owning and running a small confectionery company in this day and age is as challenging as ever… I would like to say that our National Export Strategy is working, but with the ever-growing obstacles and challenges to businesses, I am not sure that I can. I believe that we can grow U.S. manufacturing and find customers all over the world, but only if we consider a careful balance of reduced domestic regulatory burdens, smarter supply management, increased marketing of government resources, and have the policies in place that allow our products to enter new markets.”

Mark Rice, President of Maritime Applied Physics Corporation in Baltimore, MD, said, “Export financing, be it through the SBA or EXIM bank, is not well understood by small businesses that are new to exporting. The process often depends upon the actions and recommendations of bankers who also may not be experienced in exporting. The process can be awkward, costly, and daunting. More needs to be done to locally coordinate and promote the federal programs so that small businesses understand the remarkable guarantees that the U.S. Government offers for exporting.”

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