Francisco J. Sánchez is the Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade.
May brings warmer weather, longer days, and, most importantly for us at the Department of Commerce, World Trade Month. For years, this has been a special time to reflect on the importance of trade to our nation’s economic well-being.
Over the past few months, we’ve discussed what an important year 2012 was for exports and our economy: a record-setting $2.2 trillion in overall exports, 10 percent annual growth in tourism-related exports, and 9.8 million U.S. jobs supported by exports.
World Trade Month is an occasion to recognize the past year’s successes while looking ahead to new ways to expand exports and build a stronger economy. It’s a month for us to recognize what we know all year long: that exports are a key to our long-term economic health.
The month of May will provide many opportunities to do just that. Events and observances to look out for include:
- National Travel and Tourism Week, a celebration of that industry’s contributions to the U.S. economy, will take place from May 4-12.
- On May 16, the Small Business Administration and Denver U.S. Export Assistance Center will co-sponsor the 40th Annual World Trade Day.
- May 19 will bring the start of World Trade Week, a tradition dating back to 1927 and marked by a Presidential proclamation.
- During that week, the President’s annual “E” Awards will be presented to leading U.S. exporters.
Have a question about getting started in exporting? Twitter chats throughout the month will offer chances to learn about exporting and pose questions to government agencies involved in President Obama’s National Export Initiative.
World Trade Month Updates:
- Follow World Trade Month on Twitter: #WorldTradeMonth
- Export Overview shows $554.7 billion in exports for first quarter of 2013
- The National Travel and Tourism Strategy is supporting record exports with cooperation from several government agencies
- Trade Winds Asia is helping U.S. companies learn about one of the world’s fastest-growing markets
- The U.S. had a record number of exporters in 2011
- We recognized the one-year anniversary of the Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement
We invite you to check this post or our World Trade Month category for regular updates on these and other events. You can also visit our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter.
As we kick off World Trade Month 2013, our team looks forward to continuing to support our nation’s exporters as they build things here and sell them everywhere.
Tradeology, the ITA Blog 