Setting the Stage: Engagement in the Global Marketplace

Francisco Sanchez, the undersecretary for international trade at the Commerce Department who leads the International Trade Administration and heads up its work to improve the global marketplace and help U.S. firms compete overseas, opened the March 2013 meeting on trade policy and international marketing (View photos of the event here).

On the third anniversary of the National Export Initiative, which had anticipated a doubling of U.S. exports within five years, Sanchez told the group that everyone has to be engaged globally.

U.S. exports, with a volume of $2.2 trillion in 2012, support 10 million jobs, which typically tend to pay 18% more than jobs only for domestic production. In 2008, Sanchez stated, 47% of Americans saw trade as a major threat. In 2013, 55% see trade as a positive dimension. Sanchez sees a new U.S. trade emphasis on Africa and Brazil, and key emerging opportunities through transpacific and transatlantic partnerships. He views export promotion as a new form of economic development.

This article is a part of a series written by Michael Czinkota and Charles Skuba who report on the March 2013 meeting on trade policy and international marketing, a collaboration between the American Marketing Association, Georgetown University and the U.S. International Trade Administration. View part 1 here. Guest writer Charles Skuba teaches international business and marketing at Georgetown University. He served in the George W. Bush Administration in trade policy positions in the U.S. Department of Commerce.