TRADE NEWS
GrassRoots Trade News
is produced by the
U.S. Chamber of
Commerce, TradeRoots,
1615 H Street, N.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20062.
www.traderoots.org
U.S. Chamber Hits
the Road With
Chinese Ambassador
he U.S. Chamber’s East Asia and
T
TradeRoots staff traveled with
Chinese Ambassador Zhou
Wenzhong to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and
to Saint Paul, Minnesota, as part of an
eight-city grassroots tour designed to
introduce the Chinese marketplace to
small and medium-size businesses
(SMEs) throughout the United States.
The Chamber, with the support of FedEx,
AIG WorldSource, and local chambers,
intentionally designed this initiative to
reach cities and congressional districts in
states where the benefits of the U.S.-
China commercial engagement may not
be readily apparent.
Program participants included Rep.
Gwen Moore (D-WI, 4th), Milwaukee
Mayor Tom Barrett, Sen. Norm Coleman
(R-MN), and Saint Paul Mayor Chris
Coleman. The forums in both cities also
included panelists from the American
Chamber of Commerce-China, the
Department of Commerce, and business
executives with significant investment
experience in China. The panelists
collectively underscored the importance
of due diligence, finding suitable
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Page 2 | U.S.-Korea FTA Talks
2006 | Volume XVII Access 2006:
America’s Small
Business Summit
A
ccess 2006: America’s Small
Business Summit was hosted by
the U.S. Chamber in Washington,
DC, May 10–12 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel.
Access 2006 brought more than 500
participants together around common
concerns and opportunities facing small
businesses. The summit energized and
educated small business owners with
partners, and intellectual property
thought-provoking sessions on
protection strategies for U.S. companies leadership, politics, and tools for success.
looking to invest in the China market. The event also featured industry
The next grassroots China business icons and thought leaders who are
tour, along with the Chinese Ambassador, models of small business success.
is scheduled to visit Kansas City, Missouri, Topics and speakers included an
and Omaha, Nebraska. Later in the year, analysis of the 2006 midterm elections
the tour is scheduled to visit Pittsburgh, with Gwen Ifill, Charlie Cook, and
Pennsylvania; Rochester, New York; Stuart Rothenberg; a discussion on
Cincinnati, Ohio; and Detroit, Michigan. health care featuring Newt Gingrich; a
For more information, please email small business success story told by
Emily Hagel at ehagel@uschamber.com. FedEx’s Frederick W. Smith; and an
inside look at Washington politics
today through the eyes of David
Gregory, Ed Gillespie, and Terry
McAuliffe.
Numerous breakout sessions
covered a wide range of topics
including the impact of lawsuit
abuse on small business, market
Photo: Ian Wagreich
opportunities in government and the
private sector, how to get heard on
Capitol Hill, and an overview of the
current state of the economy and its
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and Chinese potential for growth. TradeRoots’
Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong, featured
speakers at the China Business 2006 forum
Leslie Schweitzer led a panel
in Milwaukee, pause for a photo after the discussion on how small businesses
morning session. can succeed in the global market.
Page 3 | Regional Office Profile Page 4 | Chamber Briefs/Trade Update
2 | Grassroots Trade News

CORRESPONDENCE
Update Your
Member Profile
TradeRoots is a nationwide,
grassroots program designed to build
support for international trade in
communities across the country.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has made
a long-term commitment to rally support for
free and fair trade by forging local coalitions
of pro-trade business leaders across America.
Get involved, join TradeRoots, and become
part of our growing trade network
of chambers, businesses, and individuals.
Please send us, via fax or e-mail, your contact
information so that we can update our
database. The database remains confidential.
E-mail
traderoots@uschamber.com
Fax
202-822-2461
ANNOUNCEMENT
Send announcements and inquires
via fax to Jen Derstine, 202-822-2461.
S TA F F
Happy Birthday TradeRoots
e want to thank the hundreds of
W chambers and associations that
have become part of our powerful
coalition over the years, and as we celebrate
our seventh birthday, commend ourselves
on being the nation’s only sustained
grassroots trade education program.
When TradeRoots began, there were a
number of chambers that were actively
and consistently involved in trade
education and advocacy. But these
chambers had yet to join forces as one
voice for trade. Now, thanks to our vast
network of chambers and associations, that
voice is a very loud and powerful one.
It is imperative as we continue our
grassroots efforts to educate the American
public on trade that we build a permanent
TradeRoots coalition to better leverage the
power of the numbers, instead of building
issue-specific coalitions as we have in
the past, for example, China PNTR,
U.S.-Australia FTA, or U.S.-DR-CAFTA.
Currently under the management of
Liz Reilly, we are working together
with VoteForBusiness.com (VFB) to
communicate our message on a much
more massive scale to more than 35,000
VFB contacts regarding general information
about why trade is necessary and
whom it impacts.
There will
be frequent
communications
including myths and
facts about trade, the
issue of jobs lost
versus jobs created, the fact that small
businesses are doing most of the
exporting, and an explanation of free
trade agreements (FTAs) and why they
are important.
At the end of the communications, we
will be doing an aggressive push to ask
people to sign up and join the TradeRoots
Coalition to support general trade issues.
If you have any questions, please contact
Liz Reilly at lreilly@uschamber.com. Help
us build an enormous permanent
coalition to ensure that American
businesses can compete in the global
world. Thank you once again for being
part of the TradeRoots network.
Leslie M. Schweitzer
Senior Trade Advisor
U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Leslie M. Schweitzer
Senior Trade Advisor
lschweit@uschamber.com
Renee Carter
Director of TradeRoots U.S.-Korea FTA Talks Begin in June
rcarter@uschamber.com
fter announcing negotiations for a U.S. – Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in

A
Emily Hagel
Associate Program Manager February, the U.S government found itself in the mandatory 90-day consultation
ehagel@uschamber.com process during which time the U.S. business community and other key stakeholders
submit comments on their priorities for FTA negotiations. The U.S. International Trade
Claudia Holwill
Commission held a hearing on April 20, 2006 to address the potential impacts of an FTA
Program Assistant
with Korea on the U.S. economy. The first round of U.S.-Korea FTA negotiations are
cholwill@uschamber.com
scheduled to begin June 5.
Liz Reilly The U.S.-Korea FTA Business Coalition, led by the U.S.-Korea Business Council hosted
Coalition Program Manager by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is working to promote an agreement that is
Cathy Blalock comprehensive in scope while generating the greatest potential benefits for businesses
TradeRoots Consultant and consumers. There is already encouraging momentum building for a U.S.-Korea FTA.
A bipartisan group of key U.S. senators and members of the House have publicly
Jen Derstine expressed support for an FTA, and Korean President Roh Moo-hyun has made this
TradeRoots Consultant
agreement a top priority for the remainder of his term in office. In the U.S. business
Ken Urbina
community, more than 150 companies and associations have signed on as members of
TradeRoots Intern the Coalition.
Areas of concern with the agreement will be the politically sensitive nature of
continue on page 3
 www.traderoots.org | 3

REGIONAL OFFICE PROFILE

SBA Office of International Trade

A Tender Touch to the Sometimes Tough Issue of Trade

By Stephen Sullivan, Trade Specialist, Office of International Trade, U.S. Small Business Administration

hen the U.S. Small Business collaborative initiative would need to be business trade into the Summit dialog.

W Administration’s (SBA’s) Office

of International Trade hosted a
meeting in Washington, DC, of small
business service providers from around the
hemisphere in September 2003, they knew
right away they were on to something. At a
time when critics of the proposed Free
Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) were
becoming increasingly vociferous and
the issue of trade in general increasingly
contentious, everyone in the room agreed
on one thing: “With or without free trade
agreements, we have a responsibility to
help small businesses face the challenges
and take advantage of the opportunities
that the global marketplace presents.”
Although this simple statement may sound
somewhat innocuous, it really was quite—
perhaps not so much for what it said as for
what it symbolized: common ground.
The organizations gathered that first
day at the Inter-American Development
Bank included SBA counterparts from
Brazil (SEBRAE) and Chile (SERCOTEC
and CORFO), the Nacional Financiera
(NAFIN) from Mexico, Industry Canada,
and from the private sector, the Camara
de Industrias from Costa Rica and
AmCham Chile. These organizations were
invited to Washington to talk about how
they could work together to promote the
growth and development of, and
strengthen the voice of small business in
the Americas.
Something else they all agreed on was
that to be truly effective, any such
very focused. After all, small business
development was an extremely broad and
often vague concept. What they came up
with, in consultations with contacts at the
Organization of American States (OAS),
was a commitment to work together to
advance a hemispheric network of public
and private organizations focused on
promoting and facilitating the
participation of small, and medium
enterprises (SMEs) in international trade.
This network would bring together small
business development agencies, chambers
of commerce, trade promotion agencies,
and others to create a dialog and share
best practices on preparing SMEs to
become successful players in the global
marketplace. It became known as the SME
Congress of the Americas.
The First SME Congress of the Americas
meeting took place in Chile, October 5–6,
2004. Discussion and roundtable themes
included factors affecting small business
participation in trade; strategies for
effective public, private, and nonprofit
cooperation on promoting SME trade; and
the Summit of the Americas Process. More
than 75 delegates from 12 countries
participated in the First SME Congress of
the Americas, including national summit
coordinators from the United States, Chile,
and Argentina.
Follow-up on summit themes took
place in DC in April 2005 as the Steering
Committee reconvened to draft
recommendations on incorporating small
Summit leaders expressly endorsed the
SME Congress, and both the Summit
Declaration and Plan of Action call for
increased participation at the next SME
Congress of the Americas, which will
being held in Mexico City this month.
The central theme of the Second SME
Congress of the Americas is “Utilizing
Information and Communication
Technologies (ICT) to Promote and
Facilitate Small Business Participation in
Trade.” During the SME Congress in
Mexico, participants will be sharing best
practices on utilization of ICT for
supporting SME trade, discussing strategy
for more effective cooperation between
the public and private sectors, and
building personal and professional
relationships that will help them more
effectively cooperate in promoting small
business participation in trade.
There will also be an experimental pilot
matchmaking event linked to the Second
SME Congress. Like the Second SME
Congress, this pilot matchmaking will
focus on ICT, as a small number of
companies from the United States,
Argentina, Chile, and Mexico meet to
discuss the potential for strategic
partnerships and business opportunities.
“By sharing expertise in preparing small
businesses for trade, we help create better
trading partners for our own small
businesses” said SBA Assistant
Administrator for International Trade
Manuel Rosales.

continue from page 2
agriculture and creating market access for both countries. Other
challenges for the U.S. include access to Koreas automotive,
pharmaceutical, and service sectors.
We encourage the support of local chambers, the business
sector, and individuals for the U.S.-Korea FTA. Korea is the United
States’ seventh largest trading partner, and last year alone bilateral
trade between these two countries was more than $70 billion.
This FTA is also an opportunity to strengthen the critical
political relationship between these two countries and promote
liberalization efforts at a regional and global level. By joining
the TradeRoots coalition, you will receive more information on
this agreement and others and will be notified of when it’s time
for your support. The coalition is free and an easy way for your
voice to be heard. Join the TradeRoots Coalition today. Go to
www.traderoots.org, and designate Korea as an area of interest.
 TradeRoots
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
1615 H Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20062
Upcoming Trade Programs
JUNE 1
Tennessee ECD
Business Matchmaking and
Exporting Seminar
Nashville, TN
JUNE 2-7
AACCLA
Business Future of the Americas
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
JUNE 13
China Business 2006 Launch Reception
With Ambassador Zhou
Washington, DC
C H A M B E R B R I E F S / I N T E R N AT I O N A L T R A D E U P D AT E S
Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce
www.mobilechamber.com
The Alabama Development Office and the Export Alabama
Trade Alliance, including the Mobile Area Chamber,
organized a trade mission to Guatemala City, Guatemala,
and San Pedro Sula, Honduras, May 14–20. The
multi-industry mission focused on matching participating
Alabama companies with qualified agents, distributors,
representatives, end users, and joint venture partners in
these markets. The mission encouraged the participation
of new entrants into the region. A briefing was held to
promote the trade mission at which Emily Gereffi, a
representative from the Department of Commerce Trade
Information Center, presented opportunities brought about
by DR-CAFTA.
The Chamber will lead a second trade mission to
Frankfurt, Germany, and Prague, Czech Republic,
September 16–23. Eric Stewart, deputy assistant
secretary for Europe in the Department of Commerce
International Trade Administration, visited Mobile to
discuss market opportunities and access to Germany
and the Czech Republic.
New Jersey Chamber of Commerce
www.njchamber.com
The New Jersey Chamber took members with an interest
in doing business in Asia on a 10-day trade mission to
China May 17–28. The trip included visits to Beijing,
Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Hong Kong. CEOs met with
their counterparts in Shanghai and had access to Gold
Key appointments. Hangzhou is New Jersey’s Sister
Visit www.traderoots.org for additional information.
JUNE 13
Austin USEAC
Ways to Finance your Technology
Exports
Austin, Texas
JUNE 16-21
Export Tennessee Trade Mission
Australia
JUNE 29
Fort Worth ITC
Fort Worth Mayor’s Global
Business Awards
Fort Worth, TX
Province and a major center of commerce 2 hours from
Shanghai. The Chamber’s Shanghai Office will provide
bilingual assistants to help with communication.
U.S.-SACU FTA Now a
Long-Term Goal
Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Karan Bhatia and
senior officials from the member countries of the
Southern African Customs Union (SACU) have pushed
back hopes to conclude an FTA in the near term. Instead,
the two sides will work to strengthen the trade and
investment partnership currently in place by establishing
a framework for bilateral engagement. This framework
would then be used as the basis for an eventual
comprehensive FTA. Negotiations for an FTA had been
launched in 2003 to build on the success of the African
Growth and Opportunities Act, but the United States and
SACU have stumbled over differences on core issues in
the FTA (USTR Press Release, April 18, 2006).
Chinese, Saudis Build
Trade Ties
Chinese President Hu Jintao made his first state visit to
Saudi Arabia on April 22 and signed a number of
agreements with King Abdullah to strengthen cooperation
between the two countries. China’s economic growth has
pushed up its consumption of energy and has forced it to
look globally for access to new energy resources. Sales
J U LY 9
Enterprise Florida
Export Sales Mission to
Dominican Republic
Santo Domingo, Dominican, Republic
J U LY 1 0 - 1 4
El Salvador Trade and Invesment Tour
Northern Virginia
J U LY 2 4 - 2 8
TradeRoots SME Turkish
Business Alliance
Turkey
of oil from Saudi Arabia to China currently provide 17%
of China’s oil imports, and bilateral trade is reported to
have seen large double-digit annual increases since 1999.
For Saudi Arabia, China offers a sizable alternative market
to the United States and Europe and a partner that
eschews the West’s inclusion of calls for democracy and
political reform. However, China cannot offer the same
security guarantees to the region as the United States, so
the Saudis value both relationships (The New York Times,
April 23, 2006).
U.S., India Move to Expand
Commercial Dialogue to
Improve Trade Ties
On May 1, Under Secretary of Commerce for
International Trade Franklin Lavin and Indian Commerce
Secretary S.N. Menon launched a renewed commercial
dialogue between their two countries. Originally
established in 2000, the dialogue serves as a mechanism
for addressing bilateral trade disputes. The expanded
agenda for the dialogue will cover IPR enforcement, AD
and CV duty procedures and commercial opportunities
for SMEs. Lavin noted that the two sides have also been
holding a number of substantive public-private sessions
to discuss general principles on how standards are
established, administered and enforced
(WorldTrade\INTERACTIVE, May 5, 2006).