Landrieu, Snowe, Schumer Call for Small Business Trade Advocate

Request the U.S. Trade Representative to appoint an Assistant Trade Rep. to
give small firms the necessary resources to help our economy.

WASHINGTON, March 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- United States Senate Committee
on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Chair Mary Landrieu, D-La., Ranking
Member Olympia J. Snowe, R-Maine, and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., today wrote
to United States Trade Representative Ronald Kirk asking him to add an
Assistant U.S. Trade Representative to focus exclusively on small business
trade issues as a way to help small businesses succeed and improve the overall
economy.

"Increasing exports among small firms is good not only for small businesses
but also for the economy and our nation," Sens. Landrieu, Snowe and Schumer
said in the letter.

Foreign markets are an untapped resource for most small businesses. Currently
less than 1 percent of the nation's 26 million small businesses are exporters,
a percentage drastically lower than in some other developed nations, where as
much as 15 percent of small businesses are exporters. If the percentage of
small business exporters were to increase even by one percent, it would
significantly reduce the trade deficit and, in some years, eliminate it
completely, the senators said in the letter. Despite accounting for 97
percent of all exporters, small businesses account for only 29 percent of all
U.S. exporting volume, a number lower today than it was ten years ago,
indicating that exporting among small businesses is growing at a much slower
rate than among large businesses.

"We believe that during trade negotiations, a small business expert in the
highest realms of trade policy is necessary to ensure the needs and concerns
of small businesses are addressed," the senators said. "A high-ranking
advocate for small business is vital to removing trade barriers and ensuring
that small businesses are given systematic consideration in trade policy."

SOURCE U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship

Vicki Ekstrom (Landrieu), +1-202-224-9431
victoria_ekstrom@small-bus.senate.gov; Matthew Berger (Snowe),
+1-202-224-8493, matthew_berger@small-bus.senate.gov; or Brian Fallon
(Schumer), +1-202-224-7433, brian_fallon@schumer.senate.gov, all of the U.S.
Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship