Assistance to Small Business Exporters and Dislocated

Executive Order 13169 of October 6, 2000

Assistance to Small Business Exporters and
Dislocated

Workers

By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, including the Small Business Act, 15 U.S.C.
631 et seq., the Workforce Investment Act, 29 U.S.C.
2801 et seq., and the Trade Act of 1974, 19 U.S.C. 2271
et seq., and in order to assist small businesses,
including businesses headed by underserved populations,
in participating in the export of products, and to
expedite the delivery of adjustment assistance to
dislocated workers, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Policy. By its accession to the World Trade
Organization, the People's Republic of China will be
required to open its markets to a wide range of
products and services provided by Americans. In
addition, the United States has recently enacted a new
law to facilitate trade with the countries of Sub-
Saharan Africa and the Caribbean Basin. Federal
agencies should take steps to assist small businesses,
including businesses headed by underserved populations,
in capitalizing on these new opportunities. The
agencies should also take steps to assist workers who
lose their jobs as a result of competition from imports
in their efforts to secure adjustment assistance
benefits for which they are eligible.

Sec. 2. Interagency Task Force on Small Business
Exports. (a) The Secretaries of Commerce and Labor, the
Administrator of the Small Business Administration, the
United States Trade Representative, and the Chairman of
the Export-Import Bank shall, within 60 days from the
date of this order, establish an interagency task force
through the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee
(TPCC). The task force shall facilitate exports by
United States small businesses, including businesses
headed by underserved populations, particularly with
respect to the People's Republic of China and the
countries of Sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean
Basin. The TPCC shall submit an annual report to the
President on the functions carried out by this task
force during the preceding year. As part of its work,
the task force shall assess the extent to which the
establishment of permanent normal trade relations with
the People's Republic of China, and the United States
enactment of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, 19
U.S.C.A. 3701 et seq., and the United States- Caribbean
Basin Trade Partnership Act, 19 U.S.C.A. 2701 note, may
contribute to the creation of export opportunities for
small businesses including businesses headed by
underserved populations.

    (b) For the purposes of this order, “businesses
headed by underserved populations” means businesses
headed by women or minorities, and/or located in rural
communities.

Sec. 3. Expedited Response to Worker Dislocation. (a)
The Secretary of Labor shall expedite the Federal
response to worker dislocation through the Workforce
Investment Act and the Trade Adjustment Assistance
program by proactively seeking information, from a
variety of sources, on actual or prospective layoffs,
including the media and community and labor union
members, and by sharing such information with
appropriate state workforce officials. In addition, the
Department of Labor (Labor) shall undertake a number of
proactive steps to support public outreach activities
aimed at workers, employers, the media, local
officials, the community, and labor

organizations and their members to improve awareness of
the adjustment assistance available through Labor
programs, including, but not limited to:

(1)

developing a set of methods to inform employers of the services available
through Labor workforce programs, which will explain the requirements of
the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, 29 U.S.C. 2101 et
seq., and provide information on worker adjustment programs, including the
Trade Adjustment Assistance and the basic dislocated worker programs,
emphasizing the importance of early intervention to minimize the affects of
work layoffs;

(2)

improving websites and other modes of communication to provide basic
information on dislocated worker and Trade Adjustment Assistance program
contacts at the State and local level;

(3)

developing a National Toll-Free Help Line to provide universal, accurate,
and easy access to information about public workforce services to workers
and employers;

(4)

providing on-site technical assistance, in partnership with other Federal
agencies, when there are layoffs or closures with multi-State impact, or
when there are dislocations with significant community impact (such as
areas that have been affected by numerous layoffs of apparel and textile
workers);

(5)

informing States directly when a secondary worker impact has been affirmed
by Labor; and

(6)

to the extent permitted by law, and subject to the availability of
appropriations, providing funding or an outreach campaign for secondary
workers (i.e., individuals indirectly affected by increased imports from
other countries).

    (b) The Secretary of Labor, in consultation with
the Secretary of Commerce and the United States Trade
Representative, shall report annually on the employment
effects of the establishment of permanent normal trade
relations with the People's Republic of China.

Sec. 4. Judicial Review. This order does not create any
right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law by a party against the United
States, its officers, its employees, or any other
person.

    (Presidential Sig.)

THE WHITE HOUSE,

    October 6, 2000.