Why Export?

Exporting is good for your Bottom Line!

Why Consider Exporting?

95 percent of the world's consumers live outside of the United States, so if a U.S. business is only selling domestically, they are reaching just a small share of potential customers.
Current dollar devaluation means that U.S. goods are cheaper in other countries giving the U.S. a competitive advantage when exporting.
Exporting enables companies to diversify their portfolios and to weather changes in the domestic economy.
Exporting helps small companies grow and become more competitive in all their markets.
Free trade agreements with 17 countries provide more exporting opportunities for U.S. businesses. Countries with whom the U.S. has an FTA are: Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, Jordan, Mexico, Morocco, Nicaragua, Omen, Peru, and Singapore.
President Obama's current initiative to double U.S. exports by 2015 through the rural and small business sectors could provide excellent opportunities for U.S. companies in the coming years.

The Economic Impact of Exporting

During the past 25 years, U.S. exports have made an important contribution to our country's economic growth—increasing five-fold from $224 billion to more than $1.1 trillion last year.
Exports have created over 10 million jobs in America, with over 7 million of those jobs being in the manufacturing sector. Workers in jobs supported by merchandise exports typically receive wages higher 15% higher than those who do not.
For every $1 billion that the U.S. exports, there are 6,250 jobs in the manufacturing sector created or supported.
Small businesses create 70 percent of the new jobs in America. It is important to help these firms increase their exports to help them grow.

The Number of Small Business Exporters is growing

Small and medium-sized firms account for the vast majority of growth in new exporters.
Small and medium-sized companies account for almost 97 percent of U.S. exporters, but still represent only about 30 percent of the total export value of U.S. goods.
Nearly nearly two-thirds of small and medium-sized exporters only sell to one foreign market; however, many of these firms could boost exports by expanding the number of countries they sell to.
Less than 1% of the 30 million businesses in the U.S. export. Increasing this percentage will provide a boost to the American economy and provide more jobs throughout the nation.
More than two-thirds of exporters have fewer than 20 employees.
Many smaller businesses are so busy running their day-to-day operations that they don't look into exporting. Many businesses also have misconceptions about exporting—they may think its too burdensome, believe its just for larger firms, or are not aware of the services offered by the USG, including the Commercial Service. The Commercial Service works to help inform these companies of their export potential.