June 19, 2015
This week, Secretary Penny Pritzker continued to make the case for the President’s trade agenda which will help
to spur economic growth and job creation. Deputy Secretary Bruce Andrews represented the Commerce Department at the U.S.-Brazil CEO Forum, which encourages collaboration from the public and private
sectors of both countries, and provides specific recommendations to both the U.S. and Brazilian governments on how to improve our economic and commercial relationship. Before leaving on his trip, Deputy Secretary Andrews met with
his counterparts in the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, to reaffirm America’s commitment to expanding economic relationships and trade.
Around
Commerce, we released a report showing that in 2014, over 3 million
jobs were supported by goods exports to our Free Trade Agreement partners; NIST released a research roadmap for smart
firefighting; and
NOAA is using Big Data to restore the Gulf of Mexico.
Have a wonderful Father’s Day weekend and thank you for your work to
keep America Open for Business.
Best wishes,
Jim
Deputy
Secretary of Commerce Bruce Andrews Travels to Brazil to Participate in CEO
Forum, Strengthen Economic Partnership - Deputy Secretary Bruce Andrews kicked-off his trip to Brasilia, Brazil by
meeting with business and government leaders at the U.S.-Brazil CEO Forum. Launched
in 2007, the CEO Forum encourages collaboration from the public and private
sectors of both countries, and provides specific recommendations to both the
U.S. and Brazilian governments on how to improve their economic and commercial
relationship.
Brazil
Continues to be Attractive to U.S. Companies, says Andrews – This
week, Deputy Secretary Bruce Andrews traveled to Brasilia, Brazil to
participate in the ninth U.S. - Brazil CEO Forum. This article, translated from
Portuguese, recently ran in Brazilian news outlet Valor Economico about his trip.
Explore
Brazil’s Education and Travel & Tourism Sectors – Top Prospects for U.S
Exporters -
Commercial Service (CS) Brazil wants to spread the word that Education and
Travel & Tourism rank among its highest-yielding “Best Prospect Sectors”
for U.S. exporters. Educational
institutions of all sizes and specialties, as well as destinations and tour
operators enjoy year-upon-year growth for these consumer-based services.
U.S. Goods
Exported to Trade Agreement Partners Supported 3.2 Million Jobs in 2014 - Secretary
Pritzker and the Commerce Department released a report showcasing that in 2014,
nearly 3.2 million jobs—44 percent of all jobs supported by goods exports—were
supported by the export of goods to our Free Trade Agreement (FTA) partners.
Export Success
Series: Texas’ Polyguard Products Wins “E” Award for Expansion into Colombian
Market -
Colombia is a major trading partner with the United States, and we have many
mutually beneficial business collaborations. One American business that has
profited from engaging in trade relations with Colombia is Polyguard Products,
resulting in a partnership that has grown steadily within the last nine years.
U.S. Census
Bureau Releases Key Statistics in Honor of Father's Day – For
Father’s Day this Sunday, the Census Bureau compiled statistics estimating the
number of fathers across the nation, as well as some relatively unknown facts
about how the concept of Father’s Day arose.
Deputy
Secretary Andrews Deepens Commercial Relationship between U.S. and the Republic
of Korea - U.S.
Deputy Secretary of Commerce Bruce Andrews met with Korea’s Vice Minister of
Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) to discuss progress under the commercial
dialogue between Commerce and MOTIE. During their meeting, the Deputy Secretary
reaffirmed the mutual commitment to expanding trade and economic cooperation
between the United States and the Republic of Korea.
NIST Releases
Research Roadmap for Smart Firefighting - Prepared by the National Institute
of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Fire Protection Research
Foundation(FPRF), a new Research Roadmap for Smart Fire Fighting charts the
path toward overcoming technical obstacles so that those interconnected
technologies, known collectively as cyberphysical systems, or CPS, can be
harnessed to greatly improve fire-protection and fire-fighting capabilities.
New IT Contract
to Save Taxpayers Nearly $8M - The Department of Commerce recently signed a blanket purchase
agreement (BPA) with Microsoft that is estimated to save the department nearly
$8 million in taxpayer dollars. The agreement, in effect for three years, will
help Commerce achieve IT efficiency and user productivity goals through the use
of the latest technologies that help the department work at the speed of
business.
Beyond the
Border: U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico Trade in Perspective - In a guest
blog post by Philip Poland, Director of International Trade Compliance at DHL
USA, he writes that the North American trade relationship is the strongest in
the world, and exceptionally important to U.S. businesses. He highlights a recent panel discussion, held
during the Discover Global Markets: The Americas conference, that explored the
opportunities and challenges for U.S. companies looking to do business with our
closest neighbors.
NTIA
Releases Report Furthering President’s Commitment to Identifying Spectrum for
Commercial Wireless Broadband - The National Telecommunications and
Information Administration (NTIA)
released an important technical report developed by engineers in NTIA’s
OSM and ITS that provides the technical analysis supporting spectrum sharing
and serves as a concrete example of our efforts to make more spectrum available
to meet the exploding demand for commercial wireless broadband while protecting
mission-critical Federal systems.
Stakeholder
Proposals to Come Together at ICANN Meeting in Argentina - Next week,
hundreds of members of the Internet stakeholder community will attend the
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers’ (ICANN) 53rd meeting in
Argentina. The meeting in Buenos Aires will be pivotal, as the community
finalizes the components of the transition proposal and determines what remains
to be done.
How
Do Oil Spills out at Sea Typically Get Cleaned Up? – NOAA explains how each
oil spill has unique aspects that call for careful consideration when deciding
which tool to use. Responders keep an array of response methods in their
toolkit for dealing with oil in offshore waters: skimming and booming, in situ
burning, and applying dispersants.
Using
Big Data to Restore the Gulf of Mexico - Data information and integration
systems like DIVER, NOAA’s new website for Deepwater Horizon assessment data,
put information about animal species species in one place at one time. These
data give us a new kind of power for protecting marine species and for better
managing species recovery.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis wrote that the U.S.
Current-Account Deficit Increases in First Quarter 2015 and added a Preview
of the 2015 Annual Revision of the National Income and Product Accounts on
their blog this week.
Quarterly
Financial Report - Retail Trade 1st Quarter 2015: After-tax
profits for retail corporations with assets of $50 million and over were
$23.0 billion for the first quarter 2015 (the three months ending April 30,
2015), down $0.6 billion from fourth quarter 2014 (the three months ending
January 31, 2015).
New
Residential Construction - May 2015: Privately
owned housing starts in May 2015 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate
of 1,036,000. This is 11.1 percent below the revised April 2015 estimate of
1,165,000.
Commerce Data in the News: The Washington Post
cites Census Bureau statistics on commuting by modes of transportation to write
about the integration of bikes into
local transportation systems in the article, Making Way for Bicycles in a Sprawling
Suburb Where Cars Have Always Ruled.
The National
Journal cites Census Bureau statistics on income, poverty, and race and
ethnicity in writing that young, poor Latino men will benefit the most in
raising low-end salaries in the article, 723,000
People on Minimum Wage Just Got a Raise in Los Angeles.
Data Releases Next Week: Advance Report on Durable Goods
Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders: May (Census); New
Residential Sales: May (Census); Gross Domestic Product: Third Revision 2015 Q1
(BEA); Personal Income and Outlays: May (BEA).
On Monday, Under Secretary for International Trade Stefan
Selig will participate in the 2015 U.S.-China Innovation Dialogue in
Washington, D.C. He will deliver remarks on business-to-business collaboration
in the technology industry. He will also participate in roundtable discussions
with the Chinese Government and U.S. and Chinese industry on innovation-related
topics including enabling public policy for innovation, talent cultivation for
entrepreneurship and the role of IPR in innovation.
From Monday to Wednesday, Bureau of Economic Analysis
Director Brian Moyer will discuss future challenges and opportunities in
producing economic statistics at the 2nd Conference of the Society for Economic
Measurement in Paris, France.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, Secretary Pritzker will
participate in the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) with
Secretary Jacob Lew, Department of the Treasury, and U.S. Trade Representative
Michael Froman, in Washington, D.C. Under Secretary for International Trade
Stefan Selig will also participate in discussions.
On Tuesday, Census Bureau Director John Thompson will
give opening remarks at the 16th annual Local Employment Dynamics Partnership
Workshop at the Department of Commerce. The theme for this year’s two-day
workshop is “Discerning the Dynamic Workforce.” Under Secretary for Economic
Affairs Mark Doms will also speak at the event.
On Wednesday, Under Secretary for Intellectual Property
and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office Michelle Lee will
speak at a fireside chat for the Patent Law Policy Event in Washington, D.C.
The event is hosted by the South Asian Bar Association IP Section, IP Law
Section of the D.C. Bar and Asian Pacific American Bar Association-D.C.
Director Lee will discuss current developments in patent law and policy,
including several key initiatives of the USPTO including the Enhanced Patent
Quality Initiative (EPQI).
On Thursday, Secretary Pritzker will discuss American
competitiveness at a luncheon hosted by Foreign Policy Magazine in Washington,
D.C.
Deputy Secretary Andrews greets
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on his visit to Brazil this week.
Secretary Pritzker answers
the “Give Them 20” Challenge alongside veterans who work within the
Department of Commerce and challenges Daymond John, the Chicago Cubs and the
Chicago Blackhawks.
Lots
of Places to Purchase a Gift for Dad — Just in time for Father’s Day, the Census Bureau posted a graphic
that shows the number of men’s clothing, hardware, sporting goods and
electronics stores where you could buy good ol’ dad a gift for his special day.
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