USA SHIPMENT EFFICIENCY ASSESSMENT COMPLETED AS FIRST STEP TO STRENGTHEN U.S. TRADE AND EXPORTS
December 05, 2017
Public- and private-sector executives gathered in Washington, D.C. on December 15, 2017 to finalize the USA Shipment Efficiency Assessment (SEA), establishing a roadmap to improve trade efficiency and increase U.S. exports.
GCEL met with officials from the U.S. Small Business Administration to discuss how new digital tools can help SMEs reduce trade and operational costs while expanding international business opportunities. Discussions also explored deployment of the Digital Economy Platform through an Americas Benchmark Trade Lane connecting the United States and Brazil.
The assessment was reviewed by representatives from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration, the Bankers Association for Finance and Trade (BAFT), the Alliance for Transportation Innovation, the Ocean Carrier Equipment Management Association, and George Mason University.
Based on nearly 60,000 data points collected through face-to-face interviews across 19 industry sectors, the report found that digitizing U.S. global value chains could reduce annual domestic and international trade costs by USD 735.8 billion, increase trade by USD 480 billion, and create nearly 3.2 million jobs across manufacturing, agriculture, and service industries.
