June 6, 2014
This week, Secretary Pritzker traveled to Asia
with a delegation of U.S. CEOs and members of the U.S.-ASEAN (Association of
Southeast Asian Nations) Business Council. These economies present enormous
opportunity for U.S. businesses, and the Commerce Department is focused on
strengthening the trade relationship between the U.S. and the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) by encouraging even deeper business-to-business
ties. The Secretary also met with her counterparts and leaders in Vietnam,
Burma, and the Philippines. Secretary Pritzker also co-authored an op-ed this
week with Jeff Zients, Director of the White House National Economic Council,
about how America has regained the top destination for foreign direct investment
and how the Administration is working to ensure it stays that way. In this
week's newsletter, be sure to read the blog posts about how NIST’s net-zero
energy house is in the black for the year; ITA’s trade data is helping the
travel and tourism industry attract more foreign visitors; and NOAA explains all
that goes into repairing a damaged coral reef. -Bruce
Secretary
Pritzker Meets with Philippine President Aquino, Trade and Industry Secretary
Domingo, and Finance Secretary Purisima - As part of a week-long commercial
diplomacy trip to the Asia-Pacific region, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny
Pritzker traveled to the Philippines to demonstrate the Obama administration's
ongoing commitment to Asia.
Secretary
Pritzker Promotes Entrepreneurship in the Philippines - Secretary Pritzker
participated in a roundtable with Philippine entrepreneurs to learn more about
the business environment in the Philippines and discuss ways that the Obama
Administration can support business creation.
Secretary
Pritzker Discusses Trade Ties with Vietnamese Government Leaders - Secretary
Pritzker met with several government leaders to discuss opportunities for U.S.
companies to do more business in Vietnam. She met with her counterpart Vu Huy
Hoang, the Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade. The Secretary and the
Minister discussed ways to increase economic engagement between the U.S. and
Vietnam. Secretary Pritzker and Minister Hoang then met with the USABC CEO
delegation and talked about the U.S. private sector’s commitment to Vietnam.
Understanding
Business Opportunities in Vietnam - This blog post is from Peggy
Keshishian, Acting Senior Commercial Officer in Vietnam, about the two
important reasons why Vietnam is a promising market. First, the country is
modernizing and second, the population is young.
Secretary
Pritzker First-Ever Commerce Secretary to Visit Burma - As the first-ever
U.S. Commerce Secretary to visit Burma, Secretary Penny Pritzker encouraged
Burmese leaders to continue making positive political and economic reforms to
bolster U.S. private sector interest in the region. Secretary Pritzker met
Burmese President Thein Sein and discussed the ways our two countries can
continue working together to improve the U.S.-Burma commercial relationship.
Secretary
Pritzker Affirms U.S. Support for Burmese Political and Economic Reforms - At a roundtable with Burmese civil society leaders, she
took the opportunity to learn more about the complexities of political and
economic reform, and to hear their concerns and views about future challenges
for Burma. In her remarks at the roundtable, Secretary Pritzker affirmed the
United States’ commitment to supporting positive political and economic reforms
in Burma.
Secretary
Pritzker Concludes Commercial Diplomacy Trip to ASEAN Region - This week’s commercial diplomacy trip provided the CEO delegation
and the Commerce Department with opportunities to establish and strengthen
relationships that will help promote U.S. business and support job creation in
both the United States and the ASEAN region. In addition, U.S. businesses want
to be part of the solution as countries across the region look to support a
growing middle class, develop world-class infrastructure, unleash sustainable
energy, and invest in their futures.
America
Is First in the World for Investment — and Getting Stronger - In an op-ed co-authored
by Jeff Zients, Director of the National Economic Council, Secretary Pritzker
highlights the role of SelectUSA in facilitating
more than $18 billion in job-creating business investment in the United States
and how the Administration is making investment attraction a core priority
across federal agencies.
Data
Expands the Tourism Industry - In the travel and tourism industry, it is
extremely important to gather international visitor data for the success and
growth of businesses. This data can help companies in a variety of ways, and
there are several within this blog post.
Why
Do We Move? Did the Reasons Change Over Time? - The Census Bureau’s David
Ihrke blogs that “to establish own household” was selected less frequently as a
reason for moving in 1999 than in 2013. This indicates that establishing a
household was either a more important or more common reason for moving in 2013
than it was in 1999.
Research for 2020 Census Continues as
Census Bureau Opens Temporary Office -
Census Bureau Director John Thompson wrote a blog post about an important
milestone on the road to the 2020 Census - the opening of a temporary census
office in Silver Spring, MD., for the 2014 Census Test. The Census Bureau will
conduct the test in parts of Washington, D.C., and Montgomery County, MD.
Countdown
to Net Zero: NIST Test House Pursues Energy Surplus in Final Month -
Heading into the final stretch of a year-long trial run, the experimental
net-zero energy house at the National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST) in Gaithersburg, MD., must overcome an energy deficit of 154 kilowatt
hours—equivalent to about $20—during the month of June. At the end of May, the
research residence still owed on its total energy bill, which averaged less
than $2.00 per month over the first 11 months. So, the "countdown to net
zero" is on.
Collecting
Reliable, Timely, and Local Census Data - Census Bureau Director John
Thompson wrote a blog post that he was pleased to participate in the inaugural
conference of the American Community Survey Data Users Group. This conference
brought together a diverse group of data-loving number crunchers from local
governments, nonprofits, economic development agencies, researchers, and
private sector companies from across the U.S. Their common connection: the
reliable, timely, and local data about their communities provided by the
American Community Survey.
Commerce
in the Community: Korean Churches for Community Development - This post is
an interview with Hyepin Im, the Founder and President of Korean Churches for
Community Development, the largest Asian faith-based organization involved in
church and community development initiatives in the United States.
The
Apprentice: A Tale of Life, Love, and Much Else - A guest blog post by
Stacey Wagner about the recently announced new investments in American
Apprenticeship Grants. This competition, to be launched in fall 2014, will
focus on partnerships to create apprenticeship models in new, high-growth
fields; align apprenticeships to career learning and advancement; and scale
existing successful apprenticeship models.
How
to Restore a Damaged Coral Reef: Undersea Vacuums, Power Washers, and Winter
Storms - After a ship runs aground on a coral reef, the ocean bottom
becomes a messy place - thickly carpeted with a layer of pulverized coral
several feet deep. This was the scene underwater off the Hawaiian island of
Oahu in February of 2010. On February 5, the cargo ship M/T VogeTrader ran
aground and was later removed from a coral reef in the brilliant blue waters of
Kalaeloa/Barber’s Point Harbor. NOAA and its partners suited up in dive gear
and got to work restoring this damaged reef, beginning work in October 2013 and
wrapping up in April 2014.
All-Natural
Mixture Yields Promising Fire Retardant - What sounds like fixings for a
wizard’s potion—a dash of clay, a dab of fiber from crab shells, and a dollop
of DNA—actually are the ingredients of promising green fire retardants invented
by researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) wrote the April
2014 trade gap is $47.2 billion on their blog this week.
Construction
spending in April 2014 was $953.5 billion at a seasonally adjusted annual
rate, up 0.2 percent from the March 2014 revised estimate and up 8.6 percent
from April 2013.
April
2014 new orders for manufactured goods increased 0.7 percent, to $499.8
billion. Shipments increased 0.3 percent, to $497.6 billion. Unfilled orders
rose 0.9 percent to $1,080.6 billion. And inventories increased 0.4 percent, to
$645.8 billion.
The April
2014 international trade deficit increased 6.9 percent from March, to $47.2
billion. Exports decreased 0.2 percent, to $193.3 billion, and imports rose 1.2
percent, to $240.6 billion.
Commerce Data in the News: The Wall Street Journal, citing the Census
Bureau’s Reason for Moving report, says more Americans who moved last year did
so to secure cheaper housing or a shorter commute, compared with 1999 when more
movers sought to upgrade their home or apartment, in the article Why
Americans Moved Last Year: Cheaper Housing, Shorter Commutes.
The Washington Post
cites the Census Bureau’s 2013 Characteristics of New Housing report to write
that new single-family housing construction confirms that the median size of a
new pad in America is bigger than it’s ever been in The Housing Crash Did Nothing to Tamp Our
Appetite for Enormous Houses.
NBC Nightly News
with Brian Williams cites the Census Bureau’s Biking and Walking to Work
report to say Americans are 60 percent more likely to bike to work than they
were over the past decade in the report: The
Road Less Traveled: Which Cities Have the Highest Percentage of People Biking
and Walking to Work.
The
International Trade Administration’s data on the balance of trade was
highlighted this week by the Associated
Press: U.S.
trade deficit jumps to two-year high.
Data Releases Next Week: Quarterly Financial Report/Manufacturing, Mining and Wholesale Trade: 2014 Q1 (Census); Monthly Wholesale Trade: April (Census); Quarterly Services: 2014 Q1 (Census); Advance Monthly Retail Sales: May (Census); Manufacturing and Trade: Inventories and Sales: April (Census)
On Monday, Secretary Pritzker will attend the U.S.-Mexico
CEO Dialogue in Washington, D.C. During the luncheon, she will discuss the
importance of the economic and commercial relationship between the two
countries.
Also on Monday, NOAA Administrator Kathryn
Sullivan will participate in a roundtable discussion on “Preparing for and
Responding to Drought and Flooding” at the Western Governors’ Association
Annual Meeting in Colorado Springs, CO.
On Tuesday, Secretary Pritzker will give the
keynote address at “The Big M Manufacturing Convergence” in Detroit, MI, where
she will discuss the importance of manufacturing, a key component if the
Innovation pillar of the Commerce Department’s “Open for Business Agenda.”
On Wednesday, Secretary Pritzker will discuss
the Administration’s innovation and technology agenda at NIST’s Visiting
Committee on Advanced Technology (VCAT) luncheon in Gaithersburg, MD.
Also on Wednesday, Secretary Pritzker will
attend the annual New Hampshire Business Day Luncheon hosted by Senator Jeanne
Shaheen. She will discuss how the Department’s “Open for Business Agenda” is
supporting American businesses and spurring economic growth.
Also on Wednesday, NOAA will host the 39th
Annual NOAA Fish Fry in the Herbert C. Hoover Building in Washington, D.C. The public are invited to
join NOAA officials and employees at the event, which will feature a variety of
sustainably caught fish prepared by guest chefs from across the country. Secretary
Pritzker will attend this event. Tickets can be purchased by calling
301-496-6061.
Also on Wednesday, NIST will co-host the
SmartAmerica Expo in Washington, D.C., which will showcase the remarkable
creations of the 24 teams of more than 100 companies, universities, and
agencies working on projects related to the “Internet of Things” as part of the
SmartAmerica Challenge. U.S. Chief Technology Officer Todd Park will give
remarks at the event.
On Thursday, Secretary Pritzker will travel to
Amsterdam, Netherlands, to host a SelectUSA event and highlight foreign direct
investment to the United States. She will also meet with her counterpart, Helen
Kamp, the Netherlands Minister of Economic Affairs, to discuss U.S.-Netherlands
economic relations.
On Friday, Census Bureau Director John Thompson
and Deputy Director Nancy Potok will participate in the Federal Economic
Statistics Advisory Committee meeting at Census Bureau headquarters. The
members advise the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Bureau of Labor Statistics,
and the Census Bureau on statistical methodology and other technical matters
related to the collection, tabulation and analysis of federal economic
statistics.
On Friday and Saturday, USPTO will host a career
fair for veterans with specialized IT experience at the USPTO headquarters in
Alexandria, VA.
Secretary Pritzker met
with Vietnamese President, Truong Tan Sang.
Bonus Photo of
the Week
Secretary Pritzker met
with Commerce's Foreign Commercial Service staff in Manila, Philippines.
Mike McGee, Senior Commercial Service Officer in
Bangkok, Thailand discusses
opportunities for American businesses in Burma.
Why
Do People Move? — The main reason that people change residences is because
they want a better home, according to a graphic from the Census Bureau’s Reason
for Moving report.
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