Export Assistance Centers (USEAC) in 1993, the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee (TPCC) designated the U.S. Department of Commerce as the primary provider of export promotion services, such as market information and counseling, to export-ready firms. The other USEAC partners, the U.S. Export-Import Bank (Eximbank) and the Small Business Administration (SBA), were to provide firms with export financing support. The Two Export Training Programs Were Not Coordinated

The Department of Commerce did not coordinate closely with SBA when it developed a separate Commerce export training program in 1999 as part of the Global Diversity Initiative—a Commerce effort to reach an underserved community of minority- and woman-owned firms. Moreover, both agencies’ staff assist each other in identifying potential training participants. Performance Measures Provide a Partial Picture of Training Program Results

Commerce and SBA do not systematically collect information on the number of new exporters or the export sales the training programs generate. Also, Commerce and SBA have not systematically conducted follow-up contacts with training participants in order to understand their export experiences and make training program adjustments to better serve potential small business exporters. In addition, Commerce’s duplication of SBA training illustrates that the TPCC has not fully met its mandate to coordinate trade promotion agencies’ efforts and eliminate duplication.
Why GAO Did This Study

The Export Enhancement Act of 1992 created the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee to coordinate the delivery of federal export promotion services and to eliminate the areas of overlap and duplication among federal export promotion programs. The Export Enhancement Act of 1999 reiterated that eliminating duplication was a primary objective. In 1993, Congress recommended that three agencies co-locate their staffs at a domestic network of 19 "one-stop shops" called U.S. Export Assistance Centers. These centers were to provide coordinated export training, as well as trade leads, export finance, and counseling to U.S. firms interested in becoming exporters.

What GAO Found

GAO found that the Department of Commerce did not coordinate closely with the Small Business Administration in introducing its export training program. As a result, Commerce and the SBA provide separate and duplicative training programs for potential small business exporters. Neither Commerce nor SBA systematically collect outcome data for their export training programs. Instead, both agencies track the number of clients trained and Commerce identifies export successes for its clients overall, but not for training participants. Staff at Commerce and SBA do not systematically follow up with training participants to learn whether they have exported, the difficulties they encountered, and how training programs might need to be adjusted to be more helpful.