§4721a State Trade Coordination

Summary

The Secretary of Commerce must work with the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee and State trade promotion agencies to make a plan that brings State export help into the federal trade promotion effort. The plan must say what State agencies should do, how they differ from federal offices in the State, how they will be used in the federal program, how federal and State groups will share information and resources, how they will coordinate education and trade events at home and abroad, how they will cut waste and overlap, and where businesses can go for international trade help. That plan must be finished and sent to Congress no later than 12 months after February 24, 2016. The Secretary, through the head of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service, must also make an annual Federal‑State export strategy for each State that sends in its own export plan. Each annual strategy must include the State’s export goals, main industries to focus on, possible trade events, and steps to increase efficiency and reduce duplication. Those strategies must be sent to the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee by February 1, 2017, and by February 1 each year after. The Secretary must also create a framework for sharing export success information and common reporting measures and send that framework to Congress within one year after February 24, 2016.