Commerce Secretary Gary Locke's spacious, wood-paneled office features a working fireplace, elegant artwork and other luxurious touches befitting one of the federal government's top economic officials.
More unusual is the nearly 60-foot-long Chinese dragon kite that hovers over his desk. The piece is not just a nod to the heritage of the first Chinese American to hold the top Commerce Department job but also evidence of Locke's hands-on style - aides said he came in one weekend and hung it himself.
It is an approach Locke has taken to running the sprawling department, which plays a crucial role in the Obama administration's plans for fixing the badly broken economy.
Since Locke took office in March 2009, he has earned a reputation as the type of manager eager to know details and wring out new efficiencies. He has pushed the Patent and Trademark Office to shorten the time it takes to get a patent, from 34 months to 20 months. He cajoled the Economic Development Administration, which makes business-development grants to distressed communities, to streamline its approval process. And he brought the 2010 Census in 25 percent under budget, saving taxpayers $1.9 billion.
But those management feats pale next to the challenge he faces as one of the key figures in implementing President Obama's pledge to double U.S. exports within five years.
The expansion of exports would mean 2 million new jobs, officials calculate, and with the nation desperate for new sources of employment growth, the mission is urgent.
Even before the housing crash and deep recession, the nation's economic growth was built on a flawed foundation of asset bubbles and excessive consumer debt, Locke said. Coupled with growth driven by innovation in areas such as renewable energy and high-quality manufacturing, he said, exports could form the basis for a new prosperity.
"Clearly we need to export more as a country as part of our economic recovery," Locke said.
The export goal is ambitious. Countries such as China and India, once thought of mostly as sources of cheap labor, are developing increasingly sophisticated manufacturing capabilities.
Still, Locke said, the potential for expanding U.S exports is plain.
Only 1 percent of U.S. companies export products at all, and of those, 58 percent export to just one country, most frequently Canada or Mexico, he said.
"If we can just help those firms export to one or two more countries, we would be able to increase exports exponentially," he said. In 2010, he noted, U.S. exports increased by 17 percent. The growth was broad-based, led by increases in exports of industrial supplies and materials, machinery and food.
For Locke, all of this plays into his prior experience. During the two terms he served as governor of Washington - home to global giants such as Microsoft and Boeing - trade with China more than doubled.
After leaving the governorship, Locke was a partner in the Seattle office of the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine. There, his work focused on helping U.S. companies break into international markets.
"I'm trying to bring some of those lessons learned" to the Commerce Department, Locke said.
He noted that "Made in the USA" is a phrase that still has clout around the world. "There is a huge hunger and demand for U.S. products," he said.
In its first two years, the Obama administration has earned a reputation in some quarters for being hostile to business.
Some business leaders have complained that the administration has demonized them in its rhetoric while hamstringing them with new environmental, health-care and financial industry regulations.
Locke, however, says the tension has not been obvious in his job, which requires constant interaction with business leaders.
In 2010, Commerce coordinated 31 trade missions in 31 countries with 368 companies. Participating companies anticipate $2 billion in increased exports from the missions, the department says. In 2011, Locke is scheduled to lead four trade missions.
Locke was not the president's first choice to head Commerce. He got the job only after New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) and New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg (R), withdrew; Richardson cited an investigation of state contracting, and Gregg voiced his political differences with the president.
Still, Locke was eager to take on the challenge.
"I wanted to help the president turn around the economy," he said.
"It has taken the country many years to get to this sorry state of affairs, and we will not be able to turn it around overnight."
Even so, the process has proven more arduous than many people expected. While the overall economy is expanding, job growth has been anemic and the national unemployment rate has hovered close to 10 percent for a year.
Locke, however, says the administration is on the right track with its heavy investments in green energy, education and health care.
"It is almost like building the foundation of a house or an office tower," he said. "All the foundation work takes a long, long time. You don't really see it. It is all happening below the street level. . . . After that, then things really begin to take off."
By Michael A. Fletcher
Washington Post Staff Writer
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/02/AR2011010203214.html
US EXPORT COUNCIL PROVIDES ASSISTANCE TO US COMPANIES SEEKING ACCESS TO HIGH GROWTH MARKETS OVERSEAS. http://usexportcouncil.com/
Showing posts with label Commerce Secretary Gary Locke. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Commerce Secretary Gary Locke. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
U.S. moving to boost exports: Commerce Secretary Gary Locke
The Obama administration has made increasing U.S. exports a key part of its strategy to reduce unemployment and is moving on several fronts to do that, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said on Wednesday.
In a wide-ranging interview, Locke said the size of the U.S. trade deficit was a concern for the Obama administration, even though it has fallen sharply this year.
Ahead of a visit to China, Locke said he would press the Chinese to lower import barriers to U.S. goods and protect the intellectual property rights of U.S. firms.
He shrugged off criticism the government is dragging its feet on free trade pacts, saying the Obama administration wants to finalize deals with Colombia, South Korea and Panama.
"The number one indicator that everyone is focusing on is the unemployment rate ... What we can do to help businesses grow and expand in America is to help them sell their products and services," Locke said at the Reuters Washington Summit. "The key to addressing that deficit is to export more American products and services, not just to China but all around the world."
CHINA BOUND
Later this week Locke will convene the Obama administration's first ever trade promotion policy coordinating committee. He and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk will then travel to Hangzhou, China next week for high-level talks on trade and investment concerns.
The U.S. trade deficit with China totaled $143.7 billion in the first eight months of 2009, down 15 percent from the same period last year as the U.S. recession took a toll on consumer and business demand.
It is still the largest trade gap the United States has with any country and has fallen less than bilateral deficits with Canada, the European Union, Mexico and Japan.
"Clearly the trade imbalance with China is not healthy and we need to do everything we can" to address it, Locke said, adding the ideal situation would for it to be roughly in balance, with small fluctuations from year-to-year.
Locke said he would be pressing the Chinese next week to lower barriers that hamper U.S. companies from participating in China's fast-growing market for clean energy, alternative fuels and energy efficiency products.
But he also warned that the United States risked being left behind by China in those fields if Congress does not pass climate change legislation.
While American investors are waiting to find out what lawmakers will do, "China is spending almost $100 billion a year from the government supporting renewable energy, clean energy, energy efficiency," Locke said.
"The longer we in the United States take to pass comprehensive energy legislation, the farther ahead the Chinese will be," Locke said.
Locke, a former governor of Washington, also said he would also deliver a message to the Chinese that it is in their own economic interest to focus on strong intellectual property protection.
"As they start to innovate, as they start to invent, they're not going to want someone else ... ripping off those ideas and products and services," he said.
In one recent example of the problem, pirated copies of Microsoft's (MSFT.O:Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) new operating system, Windows 7, were on sale in China last week before the legitimate version was even released. They sold in shops in Shanghai for about $3 a copy -- a fraction of list prices as high as $320.
PUSH FOR VISA, EXPORT CONTROL REFORMS
Earlier this week, Republican Senator Charles Grassley said he gives President Barack Obama "an F" on trade for failing to push forward on free trade pacts with Colombia, Panama and South Korea left over from the Bush administration.
Approving those pacts is part of the administration's plan for boosting exports, but it is still too early to say when they would be sent to Congress, Locke said.
"The president does want those agreements ratified but there are some issues that need to be addressed," Locke said.
The Obama administration has previously cited concerns about anti-labor violence in Colombia, tax laws in Panama and non-tariff barriers in South Korea.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department has embarked on an initiative aimed at getting more small and medium-sized U.S. businesses involved in exports, Locke said.
It also is working with the other government agencies to ease restrictions on business visas that make it hard for U.S. companies to make export sales, he said.
The department is moving "very, very fast" on its proposal to remove licensing requirements for companies to export certain dual-use goods that have both commercial and military applications to longtime allies, Locke said.
He hoped to have proposals submitted by year end and implement the measure in the beginning of 2010.
"Things that are readily available from Home Depot or Radio Shack and yet are subject to export controls make no sense," he added, echoing a longtime U.S. business complaint the current system makes them lose sales to foreign competitors.
Locke, who oversees a vast department with a number of agencies, said he was also moving to restructure the U.S. Patent Office to help U.S. business compete.
"I find it absolutely unacceptable that it takes almost three years before a patent application is accepted or rejected ... We need to get that down to less than a year. And that is a number one focus for us," Locke said.
(Reporting by Doug Palmer, Tim Ahmann, Glenn Somerville, Kristin Robertsand Paul Eckert; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
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