§ 4001. — Congressional findings and declaration of purpose.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 15USC4001]
TITLE 15--COMMERCE AND TRADE
CHAPTER 66--PROMOTION OF EXPORT TRADE
SUBCHAPTER I--EXPORT TRADING COMPANIES AND TRADE ASSOCIATIONS
Sec. 4001. Congressional findings and declaration of purpose
(a) The Congress finds that--
(1) United States exports are responsible for creating and
maintaining one out of every nine manufacturing jobs in the United
States and for generating one out of every seven dollars of total
United States goods produced;
(2) the rapidly growing service-related industries are vital to
the well-being of the United States economy inasmuch as they create
jobs for seven out of every ten Americans, provide 65 per centum of
the Nation's gross national product, and offer the greatest
potential for significantly increased industrial trade involving
finished products;
(3) trade deficits contribute to the decline of the dollar on
international currency markets and have an inflationary impact on
the United States economy;
(4) tens of thousands of small- and medium-sized United States
businesses produce exportable goods or services but do not engage in
exporting;
(5) although the United States is the world's leading
agricultural exporting nation, many farm products are not marketed
as widely and effectively abroad as they could be through export
trading companies;
(6) export trade services in the United States are fragmented
into a multitude of separate functions, and companies attempting to
offer export trade services lack financial leverage to reach a
significant number of potential United States exporters;
(7) the United States needs well-developed export trade
intermediaries which can achieve economies of scale and acquire
expertise enabling them to export goods and services profitably, at
low per unit cost to producers;
(8) the development of export trading companies in the United
States has been hampered by business attitudes and by Government
regulations;
(9) those activities of State and local governmental authorities
which initiate, facilitate, or expand exports of goods and services
can be an important source for expansion of total United States
exports, as well as for experimentation in the development of
innovative export programs keyed to local, State, and regional
economic needs;
(10) if United States trading companies are to be successful in
promoting United States exports and in competing with foreign
trading companies, they should be able to draw on the resources,
expertise, and knowledge of the United States banking system, both
in the United States and abroad; and
(11) the Department of Commerce is responsible for the
development and promotion of United States exports, and especially
for facilitating the export of finished products by United States
manufacturers.
(b) It is the purpose of this chapter to increase United States
exports of products and services by encouraging more efficient provision
of export trade services to United States producers and suppliers, in
particular by establishing an office within the Department of Commerce
to promote the formation of export trade associations and export trading
companies, by permitting bank holding companies, bankers' banks, and
Edge Act corporations and agreement corporations that are subsidiaries
of bank holding companies to invest in export trading companies, by
reducing restrictions on trade financing provided by financial
institutions, and by modifying the application of the antitrust laws to
certain export trade.
(Pub. L. 97-290, title I, Sec. 102, Oct. 8, 1982, 96 Stat. 1233.)
References in Text
This chapter, referred to in subsec. (b), was in original ``this
Act'', meaning Pub. L. 97-290, Oct. 8, 1982, 96 Stat. 1233, which
enacted this chapter and section 6a of this title and section 635a-4 of
Title 12, Banks and Banking, amended section 45 of this title and
sections 372 and 1843 of Title 12, and enacted provisions set out as
notes under sections 1, 4001, and 4011 of this title and sections 1841
and 1843 of Title 12. For complete classification of this Act to the
Code, see Tables.
Edge Act corporation, referred to in subsec. (b), is a corporation
organized under section 25A of the Federal Reserve Act, as added by act
Dec. 24, 1919, ch. 18, 41 Stat. 378, and amended, popularly known as the
Edge Act, which is classified to subchapter II (Sec. 611 et seq.) of
chapter 6 of Title 12. For complete classification of this Act to the
Code, see Short Title note set out under section 611 of Title 12 and
Tables.
Short Title
Section 101 of title I of Pub. L. 97-290 provided that: ``This title
[enacting this subchapter] may be cited as the `Export Trading Company
Act of 1982'.''
