House Republicans introduce bill to help small firms increase exports

Two House Republicans are introducing legislation Monday designed to help small businesses better understand regulations to help increase their export opportunities. 

House Small Business Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-Mo.) and Scott Tipton (R-Colo.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Small Business Agriculture, Energy and Trade, are introducing two measures that would strengthen the coordination of the federal export promotion agencies and help more small businesses export. 

"Now that the free trade agreements with Colombia, South Korea and Panama are close to all being implemented, we need to encourage more small businesses to export,” Graves said. 

"If a company doesn’t know how to export, they can’t take advantage of the lower tariffs provided by these agreements to increase their sales and hopefully hire new employees," he said. 

Graves and Tipton say the bills are needed to help small firms that do not have the resources and personnel to increase their foreign sales and must rely heavily on federal and state agencies for assistance.

The first bill would increase coordination between state and federal agencies to increase efficiency while cutting down on duplication within federal trade promotion agencies, while establishing stronger congressional oversight of such programs.   

They expressed concern that many of the federal assistance trade programs overlap and offer duplicative services, and said it is imperative for the agencies to work in unison with efforts at the state level to help small firms.  

The second measure would help small businesses get up to speed on regulations in other countries. Under the bill, agencies would collect up-to-date information on tariff and non-tariff laws, regulations, and practices. Then the information would be organized in an "easy-to-read format, and will serve as a resource for businesses looking to enter a new market," they said. 

The lawmakers said the Congressional Budget Office has determined there are no cost for the bills. 

"This legislation is a major step in improving the coordination between federal and state export promotion activities and ensuring that taxpayer money is being used most efficiently,”  Graves said. 



“Navigating the export process can be complex and confusing for small businesses, and many simply do not have the time and resources to deal with it," Tipton said. 

The panel has held several hearings in the past couple of years discussing ways that small businesses can increase their exports.