Commerce chief outlines plan to increase manufacturing exports

Commerce chief outlines plan to increase manufacturing exports    The Bush administration released its plan this week to stimulate U.S. manufacturing-based exports by tackling unfair trade practices of other countries.
   “American manufacturers can compete against any country’s white collars and blue collars, but we will not submit to competing against another country’s choke collars,” said Commerce Secretary Don Evans to the Detroit Economic Club on Sept. 15.
   One of the administration’s initiative is the creation of an Unfair Trade Practices Team within Commerce’s International Trade Administration to “track, detect and confront unfair trade competition.”
   An Office of Industry Analysis will review the economic impact of new rules and regulations on the manufacturing sector and will report its findings to the new assistant secretary for manufacturing.
   Commerce will also consolidate all export promotion activities under a new assistant secretary for trade promotion, who will serve concurrently as the director general of the Foreign Commercial Service. The first task of this new office is to accelerate the Bush administrations National Export Strategy to increase U.S. exports, Evans said.
   Evans added Commerce will accelerate the implementation of a standards initiative to ensure that U.S. manufacturers are “‘export ready’ to sell into global supply chains.”