May is World Trade Month
Since May is World Trade Month in the US, I’ll spend much of the month posting on – you guessed it – trade. While many posts will be from the US point of view, many of the resources can (and should) be adapted for exporters from other countries.
It is common knowledge that US companies lag woefully in exports as compared to their European and Asian counterparts. Part of this has to do with the sheer size of the US market and the federal system, which means laws differ from state to state. More on that some other day, but the long and short of it is that companies need to wrap their arms around “exporting” to other states before they are ready to tackle another country. Still, there’s certainly room for more exporting, and the US government has a number of resources to help companies who want to export.
The starting point is the US government’s main export page. There’s a basic guide to exporting (much of which is helpful to non-US companies as well), a readiness quiz, as well as a host of links to the various US government programs intended to assist US exporters. Once you’ve decided it’s time to start exporting, you can develop an export plan using the model outline and other website resources.
Check it out, and if you know of other good resources let us know.
The low value of the dollar should boost exports and also online sales overseas for companies like e bay and amazon. Since its cheaper to buy US based services and products large and small US firms should focus on this now, as discussed on my post this week.
I’ve also posted on that before, and it is a very good thing. Even with a recent rate hike, my hourly rates are less for my German clients than they’ve been for years, which works for both of us! The combination of the weak dollar and the internet makes exporting more favorable than ever before.