FEDERALhearing transcript

House Committee Hearing: Helping Small Businesses Sell Globally

Original title: ACROSS TOWN, ACROSS OCEANS: EXPANDING THE ROLE OF SMALL BUSINESS IN GLOBAL COMMERCE

January 1, 2015

small business international trade export policy trade agreements TPA TPP TTIP

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The Frame

What this does

The committee is evaluating legislative changes to federal export assistance and the necessity of to facilitate new international trade agreements like TPP and TTIP.

Who is mentioned in the record

Potentially affected actors named in the source documents. Mention is not a position.

Small Business Owners

These businesses are the target of proposed legislative efforts to streamline federal export resources and are the primary entities impacted by changes in international trade agreements.

American Workers

The committee asserts that increased export activity and new trade agreements are intended to influence job creation and wage levels.

What changed

Last recorded activity January 1, 2015.

What's next

Next step not available in the current record.

Summary

The House Committee on Small Business held a hearing on May 20, 2015, to discuss strategies for increasing international exports by American small businesses. The committee examined how trade agreements and federal resource coordination can help small firms reach the 96% of global consumers living outside the U.S.

Key Facts

Only 1% of the 28 million small businesses in the United States currently sell their goods internationally.
96% of the world's consumers live outside the borders of the United States.
The U.S. currently has free trade agreements with 20 countries, representing about 10% of the world's nations.
Nearly 50% of U.S. goods exported in 2014 went to countries with existing U.S. free trade agreements.
The committee is considering legislative solutions to streamline and coordinate federal resources for small business exporters.
The hearing addressed the role of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) in negotiating future agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

Why It Matters

The committee is evaluating legislative changes to federal export assistance and the necessity of to facilitate new international trade agreements like TPP and TTIP.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is the government focusing on small business exports?

The committee notes that while 96% of global consumers are outside the U.S., only 1% of American small businesses currently export, representing a significant untapped economic opportunity.

What is TPA and why was it discussed?

is a legislative tool discussed as a requirement to negotiate new trade agreements like TPP and TTIP, which the Chairman argues will level the playing field for American workers.

News Coverage

No news coverage found yet. Articles are indexed twice daily.

Discoveries

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift90% confidence

Focus on Export Coordination

The committee explicitly identified the 'maze of federal resources' as a barrier to small business exports, signaling a legislative intent to consolidate or simplify these programs.

House Committee on Small Business

Connected Entities

personBrian Bieron“Executive Director, eBay Global Public Policy Lab”Map →

personDyke Messinger“President, Power Curbers, Inc.”Map →

personNydia Velazquez“Ranking Member of the House Committee on Small Business”Map →

personSteve Chabot“Chairman of the House Committee on Small Business”Map →

personMichael Stanek“Vice President & CFO, Hunt Imaging, LLC”Map →

personTimothy Brightbill“Partner, Wiley Rein, LLP”Map →

Sources

Open source document

www.govinfo.gov

Analysis Score

0–100

Significance60
How much this matters to a regular citizen
Controversy40
Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
Entertainment10
Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
Buzz20
Current news / social attention level

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