Commerce Dept., USPS Partnership Aims to Help US Exporters

The Commerce Department and the U.S. Postal Service on Monday announced a five-year partnership intended to help U.S. exporters expand their markets overseas.

Officials said the effort was in support of President Obama’s National Export Initiative, which aims to double exports over the next five years.

The new partnership is aimed at helping small and medium-sized exporters with the combination of technical expertise from Commerce and “value-based logistics expertise” USPS, officials said.

“We’ve created a simplified on-ramp for businesses of all sizes to engage in global commerce,” said Postmaster General John Potter. “This partnership provides American businesses with ready access to the resources and transportation networks required to grow beyond our domestic borders.”

In its first phase, the partnership will focus on businesses that use the postal service to ship to only one country. Part of the president’s export strategy is to encourage exporters that ship to a single market to look for additional foreign markets.

-- Contact R.G. Edmonson at bedmonson@joc.com.