Helping Rural Businesses: Made in Rural America Export and Investment Initiative

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

February 07, 2014

FACT SHEET: Opportunity For All : Establishing a New “Made In Rural America” Export and Investment Initiative

Today, the President directed his Administration, working through the White House Rural Council, to lead a new “Made in Rural America” export and investment initiative. This initiative is charged with bringing together federal resources to help rural businesses and leaders take advantage of new investment opportunities and access new customers and markets abroad.  

Specifically, the President has instructed his Rural Council – in coordination with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Small Business Administration, the Export-Import Bank, the Office of the United States Trade Representative, and other agencies – to commit to connecting more rural businesses of all types to export information and assistance through a comprehensive strategy including the following specific commitments, to be provided over the next nine months:

• Host five “Made in Rural America” regional forums dedicated to promoting rural exports by providing rural leaders and businesses with information about federal and other resources available to help expand exports.  Working with local partners including the National Association of Counties (NACo), the Delta Regional Authority, and the Appalachian Regional Commission, these export-focused regional forums will help rural businesses take advantage of new market opportunities by providing training from experienced exporters and federal officials on the basics of exporting, accessing federal support, and participating in major trade events and trade shows across the country, as well as overseas trade missions. 
• Convene an “Investing in Rural America” conference later this year to connect major investors with rural business leaders, high-level government officials, economic development experts, and other partners.  This conference, hosted by the White House Rural Council in coordination with the Department of Agriculture and other partners, will promote opportunities to invest in Rural America by highlighting successful projects in energy; biofuels and bioproducts; infrastructure, from transportation to water systems to telecommunications; healthcare; manufacturing; and local and regional food systems. 
• Host training sessions to equip local USDA Rural Development staff in all 50 states plus territories with the tools they need to counsel businesses on export opportunities and resources. The Department of Commerce, through the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee, will cross-train USDA Rural Development staff so they can better deliver support or refer rural businesses to federal services.  
• Provide enhanced export counseling for rural businesses to connect with foreign buyers through the Department of Commerce’s U.S. Export Assistance Center trade specialists in over 100 domestic locations and in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s field staff. 
• Coordinate across the Administration to promote rural-produced goods and services at trade events including trade missions, buyer programs, trade shows, and other promotion programs. 
• Educate local leaders across the country on the importance of rural exports in partnership with NACo and through the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee in order to connect these leaders with federal resources and information to better support rural businesses to develop their potential for exporting.  
• Use the BusinessUSA online platform to better connect rural businesses with export and investment resources and coordinate support from across the federal government. BusinessUSA was launched by the President last year to serve as a “one-stop-shop” that matches businesses and entrepreneurs to the full range of services and resources available to them at every stage of development.

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President Obama: Executive Order 13558, Export Coordination Enforcement Center

• The White House

  Office of the Press Secretary

  For Immediate Release

  November 09, 2010

  Executive Order 13558 -- Export Coordination Enforcement Center

      By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to advance United States foreign policy and protect the national and economic security of the United States through strengthened and coordinated enforcement of United States export control laws and enhanced intelligence exchange in support of such enforcement efforts, it is hereby ordered as follows:
      Section 1.  Policy.  Export controls are critical to achieving our national security and foreign policy goals.  To enhance our enforcement efforts and minimize enforcement conflicts, executive departments and agencies must coordinate their efforts to detect, prevent, disrupt, investigate, and prosecute violations of U.S. export control laws, and must share intelligence and law enforcement information related to these efforts to the maximum extent possible, consistent with national security and applicable law.
      Sec. 2.  Establishment.  (a)  The Secretary of Homeland Security shall establish, within the Department of Homeland Security for administrative purposes, an interagency Federal Export Enforcement Coordination Center (Center).
      (b)  The Center shall coordinate on matters relating to export enforcement among the following:
          (i)     the Department of State;
          (ii)    the Department of the Treasury;
          (iii)   the Department of Defense;
          (iv)    the Department of Justice;
          (v)     the Department of Commerce;
          (vi)    the Department of Energy;
          (vii)   the Department of Homeland Security;
          (viii)  the Office of the Director of National Intelligence; and
          (ix)    other executive branch departments, agencies, or offices as the President, from time to time, may designate.
      (c)  The Center shall have a Director, who shall be a full time senior officer or employee of the Department of Homeland Security, designated by the Secretary of Homeland Security.  The Center shall have two Deputy Directors, who shall be full time senior officers or employees of the Department of Commerce and the Department of Justice, designated by the Secretary of Commerce and the Attorney General, respectively, detailed to the Center and reporting to the Director.  The Center shall also have an Intelligence Community Liaison, who shall be a full time senior officer or employee of the Federal Government, designated by the Director of National Intelligence, and detailed or assigned to the Center.
      (d)  The Center shall have a full time staff reporting to the Director.  To the extent permitted by law, executive departments and agencies enumerated in subsection (b) of this section are encouraged to detail or assign their employees to the Center without reimbursement.
      Sec. 3.  Functions.  The Center shall:
      (a)  serve as the primary forum within the Federal Government for executive departments and agencies to coordinate and enhance their export control enforcement efforts and identify and resolve conflicts that have not been otherwise resolved in criminal and administrative investigations and actions involving violations of U.S. export control laws;
      (b)  serve as a conduit between Federal law enforcement agencies and the U.S. Intelligence Community for the exchange of information related to potential U.S. export control violations;
      (c)  serve as a primary point of contact between enforcement authorities and agencies engaged in export licensing;
      (d)  coordinate law enforcement public outreach activities related to U.S. export controls; and
      (e)  establish Government wide statistical tracking capabilities for U.S. criminal and administrative export control enforcement activities, to be conducted by the Department of Homeland Security with information provided by and shared with all relevant departments and agencies participating in the Center.
      Sec. 4.  Administration.  (a)  The Department of Homeland Security shall operate and provide funding and administrative support for the Center to the extent permitted by law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
      (b)  The Director of the Center shall convene and preside at the Center's meetings, determine its agenda, direct the work of the Center, and, as appropriate to particular subject matters, organize and coordinate subgroups of the Center's members.
      Sec. 5.  General Provisions.  (a)  This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
      (b)  Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
  (i)   authority granted by law, regulation, Executive Order, or Presidential Directive to an executive department, agency, or head thereof; or
  (ii)  functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
      (c)  Nothing in this order shall be construed to provide exclusive or primary investigative authority to any agency.  Agencies shall continue to investigate criminal and administrative export violations consistent with their existing authorities, jointly or separately, with coordination through the Center to enhance enforcement efforts and minimize potential for conflict.
      (d)  This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
  BARACK OBAMA
  THE WHITE HOUSE,
  November 9, 2010.

President Obama: Executive Order 13534, National Export Initiative

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

March 11, 2010

Executive Order 13534 - National Export Initiative

EXECUTIVE ORDER
- - - - - - -
NATIONAL EXPORT INITIATIVE

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Export Enhancement Act of 1992, Public Law 102-429, 106 Stat. 2186, and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, in order to enhance and coordinate Federal efforts to facilitate the creation of jobs in the United States through the promotion of exports, and to ensure the effective use of Federal resources in support of these goals, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Policy. The economic and financial crisis has led to the loss of millions of U.S. jobs, and while the economy is beginning to show signs of recovery, millions of Americans remain unemployed or underemployed. Creating jobs in the United States and ensuring a return to sustainable economic growth is the top priority for my Administration. A critical component of stimulating economic growth in the United States is ensuring that U.S. businesses can actively participate in international markets by increasing their exports of goods, services, and agricultural products. Improved export performance will, in turn, create good high-paying jobs.

The National Export Initiative (NEI) shall be an Administration initiative to improve conditions that directly affect the private sector's ability to export. The NEI will help meet my Administration's goal of doubling exports over the next 5 years by working to remove trade barriers abroad, by helping firms -- especially small businesses -- overcome the hurdles to entering new export markets, by assisting with financing, and in general by pursuing a Government-wide approach to export advocacy abroad, among other steps.

Sec. 2. Export Promotion Cabinet. There is established an Export Promotion Cabinet to develop and coordinate the implementation of the NEI. The Export Promotion Cabinet shall consist of:

(a) the Secretary of State;
(b) the Secretary of the Treasury;
(c) the Secretary of Agriculture;
(d) the Secretary of Commerce;
(e) the Secretary of Labor;
(f) the Director of the Office of Management and Budget;
(g) the United States Trade Representative;
(h) the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy;
(i) the National Security Advisor;
(j) the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers;
(k) the President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States;
(l) the Administrator of the Small Business Administration;
(m) the President of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation;
(n) the Director of the United States Trade and Development Agency; and
(o) the heads of other executive branch departments, agencies, and offices as the President may, from time to time, designate.

The Export Promotion Cabinet shall meet periodically and report to the President on the progress of the NEI. A member of the Export Promotion Cabinet may designate, to perform the NEI-related functions of that member, a senior official from the member's department or agency who is a full-time officer or employee. The Export Promotion Cabinet may also establish subgroups consisting of its members or their designees, and, as appropriate, representatives of other departments and agencies. The Export Promotion Cabinet shall coordinate with the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee (TPCC), established by Executive Order 12870 of September 30, 1993.

Sec. 3. National Export Initiative. The NEI shall address the following:

(a) Exports by Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs). Members of the Export Promotion Cabinet shall develop programs, in consultation with the TPCC, designed to enhance export assistance to SMEs, including programs that improve information and other technical assistance to first-time exporters and assist current exporters in identifying new export opportunities in international markets.
(b) Federal Export Assistance. Members of the Export Promotion Cabinet, in consultation with the TPCC, shall promote Federal resources currently available to assist exports by U.S. companies.
(c) Trade Missions. The Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the TPCC and, to the extent possible, with State and local government officials and the private sector, shall ensure that U.S. Government-led trade missions effectively promote exports by U.S. companies.
(d) Commercial Advocacy. Members of the Export Promotion Cabinet, in consultation with other departments and agencies and in coordination with the Advocacy Center at the Department of Commerce, shall take steps to ensure that the Federal Government's commercial advocacy effectively promotes exports by U.S. companies.
(e) Increasing Export Credit. The President of the Export-Import Bank, in consultation with other members of the Export Promotion Cabinet, shall take steps to increase the availability of credit to SMEs.
(f) Macroeconomic Rebalancing. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with other members of the Export Promotion Cabinet, shall promote balanced and strong growth in the global economy through the G20 Financial Ministers' process or other appropriate mechanisms.
(g) Reducing Barriers to Trade. The United States Trade Representative, in consultation with other members of the Export Promotion Cabinet, shall take steps to improve market access overseas for our manufacturers, farmers, and service providers by actively opening new markets, reducing significant trade barriers, and robustly enforcing our trade agreements.
(h) Export Promotion of Services. Members of the Export Promotion Cabinet shall develop a framework for promoting services trade, including the necessary policy and export promotion tools.

Sec. 4. Report to the President. Not later than 180 days after the date of this order, the Export Promotion Cabinet, through the TPCC, shall provide the President a comprehensive plan to carry out the goals of the NEI. The Chairman of the TPCC shall set forth the steps taken to implement this plan in the annual report to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives required by the Export Enhancement Act of 1992, Public Law 102-249, 106 Stat. 2186, and Executive Order 12870, as amended.

Sec. 5. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or the head thereof, or the status of that department or agency within the Federal Government; or
(ii) functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

BARACK OBAMA

THE WHITE HOUSE,
March 11, 2010.