| Persistent United States current account trade deficits highlight a struggling American export industry. As successful programs in other nations indicate, well-designed support systems can expand exports, yielding benefits for the entire economy. Export assistance organizations do exist in the US, but their effectiveness has rarely been assessed. In particular, export finance assistance has been virtually ignored in the literature. This study begins to fill this gap by directly enquiring into the effectiveness of these organizations and their programs, with emphasis on export finance.;A survey was conducted of southern California manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises regarding their use of export support provided by various public and private agencies. Both marketing and financing support were examined. Results suggested several changes: specialization of export assistance organizations, introduction of personnel with export experience into SMEs, and the creation of export finance loan guarantee programs to serve very small and new-to-export firms. |
