By IANS,
Washington: US President Barack Obama stressed on the importance of export for the country’s economy Thursday as he met his Export Council in the White House.
“One of the biggest bright spots in our economy has been exports,” reported Xinhua citing Obama, who added “Last year, one billion dollars in exports supported nearly 5,000 jobs in the United States.”
Export has been a top priority since Obama took office in the first term. In 2010, he set a goal of doubling US export by 2015. But the US is not on track to meet that goal.
US exports have grown to $2.2 trillion from $1.84 trillion in January 2009 when Obama took office.
The Obama Administration has been taking part in two comprehensive negotiations around a Trans-Pacific Partnership and a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership to further expand export.
Obama urged the Congress to grant trade promotion authority so as to facilitate the two trade talks. It is the first time for Obama to seek the legislation.