Delegates started out with a 7:45am breakfast meeting before heading off in teams to our various meetings. I joined the group going to the Department of Commerce to meet with the Acting Director General of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service, Rochelle Lipsitz. We expressed our thanks to her for the Commercial Service’s efforts to expand export opportunities for U.S. companies. We also told her that we would be advocating for additional resources for the USCS in our meetings on the Hill.

We then headed to the House side of the Capitol to meet with Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL), co-Chair of the U.S. China Working Group. This followed yesterday’s meeting with Rick Larsen (D-WA), Kirk’s co-Chair in the Working Group. Kirk and his staff updated us on the status of the Working Group’s competitiveness agenda and thanked us for our efforts to gain co-sponsors to the U.S.-China Market Engagement and Export Promotion Act, which has growing support and thirteen co-sponsors as of today.

Further briefings and meetings with members of Congress and the Administration.  In all, the delegation had nineteen different meetings today and now we’re all off to dinner to take a breather and prepare for an evening busier day tomorrow.

We have found in some of our meetings that members of Congress and their staffs do not always understand the important and valuable roles that government entities such as the U.S. Commercial Service (USCS) play in facilitating exports of U.S. goods and services. Given how much Congress and the Administration have on their plate, funding for export promotion programs may seem relatively small – the USCS budget this year is $237 million) – but they can have a tremendous impact. In fact, the World Bank estimates that for every one dollar spent on export promotion programs, forty dollars in exports are generated, and when the money is targeted towards developing economies in Asia, it’s one hundred dollars in sales per one dollar spent. We will continue to share our message with Congress, the Administration and other groups to raise awareness and build support for the bills I mentioned in an earlier post, and encourage companies that have benefitted from these programs to share their stories with their representatives and senators.

On another note, members of the delegation shared their on-the-ground perspective as part of an event organized by the East West Center. A wide range of attendees from the business, academic, public policy worlds as well as from government were in attendance. It was a great opportunity for us to share out message about U.S. competitiveness and the importance of the U.S.-China commercial relationship.

Promoting export growth is a goal shared by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), whose leadership met with the Doorknock delegation on Monday. John Engler, the former Michigan governor and current president of NAM, emphasized that more needs to be done by the U.S. Government to encourage U.S. companies to sell American made goods overseas. AmCham Shanghai members highlighted the U.S.-China Market Engagement and Export Promotion Act (H.R.2310/S.1616), sponsored by Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA) in the House and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) in the Senate, which would provide much needed resources for U.S. businesses to navigate China’s markets.

AmCham Shanghai and NAM additionally agreed that a review of U.S. export control regulations is needed to improve our competitiveness, and that the U.S must be more aggressive internationally in advocating for U.S. standards.

All in all it was a great conversation with a leading business organization that, while different in mission from AmCham Shanghai, shares a common goal of improving the U.S.’s competitiveness abroad.

2009 has been a busy year in Washington. President Obama has pursued an ambitious agenda focused on getting the American economy back on its feet. The Administration has identified the U.S. – China relationship as a top foreign policy priority and vital to a global economic recovery.

From September 21-24, AmCham Shanghai will send a delegation representing the views of the membership to Washington, D.C. on a “Doorknock” where members of the Administration, Congress, and other key decision-makers will be engaged on important issues facing the American business community in China.

Our delegation is a representation of the AmCham Shanghai membership including representatives from Fortune 500 companies, SMEs, and entrepreneurs. Please click here for bios on each delegate member.

During our meetings we will focus on enhancing U.S. competitiveness in China.

As we all know, Trade with China is vital to the US domestic economy. US exports to China have grown 340% since 2000 and China has become America’s 3rd largest export market.

As the American economy begins to recover, we believe that improving US competitiveness in China and increasing U.S. exports to China will drive economic growth and create jobs in the US.

We will focus on three key messages:

1. Request increased funding for US trade promotion programs that will help American companies, particularly SMEs, to compete in China.
2. Ask elected officials and policy makers to work with the American business community to develop the emerging Greentech and clean energy market in China.
3. Promote continued engagement with China as be best way to ensure China meets its WTO commitments through bi-lateral dialogues such as the S&ED and the JCCT.

The AmCham Shanghai Doorknock 2009 blog provides an overview of the membership delegation that as well as an ongoing update of meetings and events that will take place during the doorknock.

We hope that you check in with our blog to get the latest news!

Thanks for your interest and we’ll see you back in Shanghai!

Our delegation includes (Please click here for bios on each delegate member):