Office of International Trade

There is established within the Administration an Office of International Trade which shall implement the programs pursuant to this section for the primary purposes of increasing— The head of the Office shall be the Associate Administrator for International Trade, who shall be responsible to the Administrator. The Associate Administrator, working in close cooperation with the Secretary of Commerce, the United States Trade Representative, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of State, the President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, the Board of Directors of the United States International Development Finance Corporation, the Director of the United States Trade and Development Agency, and other relevant Federal agencies, small business development centers engaged in export promotion efforts, Export Assistance Centers, regional and district offices of the Administration, the small business community, and relevant State and local export promotion programs, shall— maintain a distribution network, using regional and district offices of the Administration, the small business development center network, networks of women’s business centers, the Service Corps of Retired Executives authorized by section 637(b)(1) of this title, and Export Assistance Centers, for programs relating to— give preference in hiring or approving the transfer of any employee into the Office or to a position described in subsection (c)(9) to otherwise qualified applicants who are fluent in a language in addition to English, to— The Associate Administrator shall promote sales opportunities for small business goods and services abroad. To accomplish this objective the office shall— establish annual goals for the Office relating to— in cooperation with the Department of Commerce, other relevant agencies, regional and local Administration offices, the Small Business Development Center network, and State programs, develop a mechanism for— work closely with the Department of Commerce and other relevant Federal agencies to— provide small business concerns with access to up to date and complete export information by— facilitate decentralized delivery of export information and assistance to small business concerns by assigning primary responsibility for export development to one individual in each district office and providing each Administration regional office with a full-time export development specialist, who shall— The Associate Administrator shall work in cooperation with the Export-Import Bank of the United States, the Department of Commerce, other relevant Federal agencies, and the States to develop a program through which export specialists in the regional offices of the Administration, regional and local loan officers, and Small Business Development Center personnel can facilitate the access of small businesses to relevant export financing programs of the Export-Import Bank of the United States and to export and pre-export financing programs available from the Administration and the private sector. To accomplish the goal established under paragraph (1), the Associate Administrator shall— work in cooperation with the Export-Import Bank and the small business community, including small business trade associations, to— The Associate Administrator shall— The Associate Administrator shall submit an annual report to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives that contains— The Associate Administrator, in cooperation, where appropriate, with the Division of Economic Research of the Office of Advocacy, and with other Federal agencies, shall undertake studies regarding the following issues and shall report to the Committees on Small Business of the House of Representatives and the Senate, and to other relevant Committees of the House and Senate within 6 months after August 23, 1988, with specific recommendations on— The Administrator shall ensure that— the Associate Administrator has direct supervision and control over— In this subsection— The Administrator shall establish an export and trade counseling certification program to certify employees of lead small business development centers and lead women’s business centers in providing export assistance to small business concerns. The Administrator shall ensure that the number of employees of each lead small business development center who are certified in providing export assistance is not less than the lesser of— Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Administrator shall reimburse a lead small business development center or a lead women’s business center for costs relating to the certification of an employee of the lead small business center or lead women’s business center in providing export assistance under the program established under paragraph (2). The total amount reimbursed by the Administrator under subparagraph (A) may not exceed $350,000 in any fiscal year. The Associate Administrator shall develop performance measures for the Administration to support export growth goals for the activities of the Office under this section that include— the number of small business concerns that— The Associate Administrator shall develop joint performance measures for the district offices of the Administration and the Export Assistance Centers that include the number of export loans made under— The Associate Administrator, in coordination with the departments and agencies that are represented on the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee established under section 4727 of this title and the small business development center network, shall develop a system to track exports by small business concerns, including information relating to the performance measures developed under paragraph (1), that is consistent with systems used by the departments and agencies and the network. On and after the date that is 90 days after September 27, 2010, the Administrator, in coordination with the Secretary of Commerce, shall ensure that the number of export finance specialists is not less than the number of such employees so assigned on January 1, 2003. On and after the date that is 2 years after September 27, 2010, the Administrator, in coordination with the Secretary of Commerce, shall ensure that there are not fewer than 3 export finance specialists in each region of the Administration. The Administrator shall give priority, to the maximum extent practicable, to placing employees of the Administration at any Export Assistance Center that— The Administrator shall, to the maximum extent practicable, strategically assign Administration employees to Export Assistance Centers, based on the needs of exporters. Nothing in this subsection may be construed to require the Administrator to reassign or remove an export finance specialist who is assigned to an Export Assistance Center on September 27, 2010. The Associate Administrator shall work with the Department of Commerce, the Export-Import Bank of the United States, and the United States International Development Finance Corporation to establish shared annual goals for the Export Assistance Centers. The Associate Administrator shall designate an individual within the Administration to oversee all activities conducted by Administration employees assigned to Export Assistance Centers. In this subsection— the term “eligible small business concern” means a business concern that— meets— The Associate Administrator shall establish a trade expansion program, to be known as the “State Trade Expansion Program”, to make grants to States to carry out programs that assist eligible small business concerns in— In carrying out the program, the Associate Administrator may make a grant to a State to increase the number of eligible small business concerns in the State exploring significant new trade opportunities. In making grants under this subsection, the Associate Administrator may give priority to an application by a State that proposes a program that— demonstrates intent to promote trade expansion by— includes— A State may not submit more than 1 application for a grant under the program in any 1 fiscal year. The total value of grants made under the program during a fiscal year to the 10 States with the highest percentage of eligible small business concerns, based upon the most recent data available from the Department of Commerce, shall be not more than 40 percent of the amounts appropriated for the program for that fiscal year. The Associate Administrator shall award a grant under this program for a period of not more than 2 years. A State desiring a grant under the program shall submit an application at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such information as the Associate Administrator may establish. A State desiring a grant under the program shall— The Associate Administrator shall award grants under the program on a competitive basis. The Federal share of the cost of a trade expansion program carried out using a grant under the program shall be— The non-Federal share of the cost of a trade expansion program carried out using a grant under the program shall be comprised of not less than 50 percent cash and not more than 50 percent of indirect costs and in-kind contributions, except that no such costs or contributions may be derived from funds from any other Federal program. Not later than 120 days after February 24, 2016, the Associate Administrator shall submit to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives a report, which shall include— The Associate Administrator shall publish on the website of the Administration an annual report regarding the program, which shall include— On the date on which the Associate Administrator publishes a report under clause (i), the Associate Administrator shall notify the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives that the report has been published. The Inspector General of the Administration shall conduct a review of— Not later than 6 months after February 24, 2016, the Inspector General of the Administration shall submit to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives a report regarding the use of amounts made available under the State Trade and Export Promotion Grant Program under section 1207 of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (15 U.S.C. 649b note). Not later than 18 months after the date on which the first grant is awarded under this subsection, the Inspector General of the Administration shall submit to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives a report regarding the review conducted under subparagraph (A). There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out the program $30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2016 through 2020. In this section—