US Companies Need More Assistance Getting Their Products Abroad

While the United States has made great strides to increase its exports in the last several years, there is still a lot of untapped potential for more growth abroad. There are already several ways to get government assistance when exporting. All 50 states have Export Assistance Centers that aid US companies who are new to exporting. These centers help companies get in touch with overseas suppliers as well as potential customers abroad along with walking them through the entire exporting process. Still, some argue that more needs to be done to increase US exports.

The infrastructure in the US certainly could use some improvements. Often times when companies attempt to export, their products have trouble getting out of the country due to bottlenecks in shipping. This is due to many roads in poor condition, a myriad of bridges that are impassable, and simply not enough ports to support the number of exports that the US is capable of. Other countries are improving their exporting infrastructure at a much faster pace. This is concerning as the global environment becomes increasingly competitive.

Some argue that government spending needs to increase in order to improve the infrastructure enough to continue to increase exports. It is estimated that an investment of $1.5 trillion over the next 5 years to get the roads and bridges up to the standard that is required. This investment would hopefully return more in new job creation, more international sales, more taxes to make up for the initial investment, and help US companies to compete globally.