§4721a State trade coordination

Summary

The Secretary of Commerce must work with the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee and state trade agencies to make a plan that folds state trade promotion work into the federal trade promotion effort. The plan must explain what state agencies do to help exporters, how they differ from federal offices in the State, how the federal government will use state agencies, how they will share data and resources, how they will coordinate trade events and training at home and abroad, how they will make work more efficient and cut overlapping efforts, and where businesses can go for international trade help. That plan must be finished and sent to Congress not later than 12 months after February 24, 2016. The Secretary, acting through the head of the United States Foreign and Commercial Service, must also make an annual Federal‑State export strategy for each State that gives its own plan. The annual strategy must include the State’s export goals, main industries, possible trade events, and steps to improve efficiency and avoid duplication. Those strategies must be sent to the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee not later than February 1, 2017, and by February 1 each year after. The Secretary must also create a framework for sharing export results and reporting measures and send that framework to Congress not later than one year after February 24, 2016.