CHANGES IN EXISTING SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION INTERNATIONAL TRADE OFFICE.

SEC 8003. CHANGES IN EXISTING SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION INTERNATIONAL TRADE OFFICE. Section 22 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 649) is amended— (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection (c) and by inserting after subsection (a) the following: “(b) The Office, working in close cooperation with the Department of Commerce and other relevant Federal agencies, Small Business Development Centers engaged in export promotion efforts, regional and local Administration offices, the small business community, and relevant State and local export promotion programs, shall— “(1) assist in developing a distribution network for existing trade promotion, trade finance, trade adjustment, trade remedy assistance and trade data collection programs through use of the Administration’s regional and local offices and the Small Business Development Center network; “(2) assist in the aggressive marketing of these programs and the dissemination of marketing information, including computerized marketing data, to the small business community; and “(3) give preference in hiring or approving the transfer of any employee into the Office or to a position described in paragraph (8) below to otherwise qualified applicants who are fluent in a language in addition to English. Such employees shall accompany foreign trade missions if designated by the director of the Office and shall be available as needed to translate documents, interpret conversations and facilitate multilingual transactions including providing referral lists for translation services if required.”; (2) in subsection (c), as redesignated, by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (3) as (6) through (8), respectively, and by inserting the following before paragraph (6), as redesignated: “(1) 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 (A) identifying subsectors of the small business community with strong export potential; (B) identifying areas of demand in foreign markets; (C) prescreening foreign buyers for commercial and credit purposes; and (D) assisting in increasing international marketing by disseminating relevant information regarding market leads, linking potential sellers and buyers, and catalyzing the formation of joint ventures, where appropriate; “(2) in cooperation with the Department of Commerce, actively assist small businesses in the formation and utilization of export trading companies, export management companies and 102 STAT. 1555research and development pools authorized under section 9 of this Act; “(3) work in conjunction with other Federal agencies, regional and local offices of the Administration, the Small Business Development Center network, and the private sector to identify and publicize existing translation services, including those available through colleges and universities participating in the Small Business Development Center Program; “(4) work closely with the Department of Commerce and other relevant Federal agencies to— “(A) collect, analyze and periodically update relevant data regarding the small business share of United States exports and the nature of State exports (including the production of Gross State Produce figures) and disseminate that data to the public and to Congress; “(B) make recommendations to the Secretary of Commerce and to Congress regarding revision of the SIC codes to encompass industries currently overlooked and to create SIC codes for export trading companies and export management companies; “(C) improve the utility and accessibility of existing export promotion programs for small businesses; and “(D) increase the accessibility of the Export Trading Company contact facilitation service; “(5) make available to the small business community information regarding conferences on exporting and international trade sponsored by the public and private sector.”; and (3) by adding after subsection (c), as redesignated, the following new subsections: “(d) The Office 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 this goal, the Office shall work in cooperation with the Export-Import Bank and the small business community, including small business trade associations, to— “(1) aggressively market existing Administration export financing and pre-export financing programs; “(2) identify financing available under various Export-Import Bank programs, and aggressively market those programs to small businesses; “(3) assist in the development of financial intermediaries and facilitate the access of those intermediaries to existing financing programs; “(4) promote greater participation by private financial institutions, particularly those institutions already participating in loan programs under this Act, in export finance; and “(5) provide for the participation of appropriate Administration personnel in training programs conducted by the Export-Import Bank. “(e) The Office shall— 102 STAT. 1556 “(1) work in cooperation with other Federal agencies and the private sector to counsel small businesses with respect to initiating and participating in any proceedings relating to the administration of the United States trade laws; and “(2) work with the Department of Commerce, the Office of the United States Trade Representative, and the International Trade Commission to increase access to trade remedy proceedings for small businesses. “(f) The Office shall report to the Committees on Small Business of the House of Representatives and the Senate on an annual basis as to its progress in implementing the requirements under this section. “(g) The Office, 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 the date of enactment of the Small Business International Trade and Competitiveness Act with specific recommendations on— “(1) the viability and cost of establishing an annual, competitive small business export incentive program similar to the Small Business Innovation Research program and alternative methods of structuring such a program; “(2) methods of streamlining trade remedy proceedings to increase access for, and reduce expenses incurred by, smaller firms; “(3) methods of improving the current small business foreign sales corporation tax incentives and providing small businesses with greater benefits from this initiative; “(4) methods of identifying potential export markets for United States small businesses; maintaining and disseminating current foreign market data; and devising a comprehensive export marketing strategy for United States small business goods and services, and shall include data on the volume and dollar amount of goods and services, identified by type, imported by United States trading partners over the past 10 years; and “(5) the results of a survey of major United States trading partners to identify the domestic policies, programs and incentives, and the private sector initiatives, which exist to encourage the formation and growth of small business.”.