WASHINGTON, Jan 21 (Reuters) - The United States wants to double the number of small and medium-sized businesses that export to create more good-paying jobs, the top U.S. trade official said on Thursday.
"One great way to get America back to work is to get small businesses exporting," U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said at a conference on how the U.S. government can help get more small companies involved in trade.
"A big part of our goal today is to demystify this process. Because too many of our small businesses think this is great for the big guys ... but for my small business it doesn't work," Kirk said.
Only about 1 percent of the 30 million small and medium-sized businesses in the United States currently export. Many of those companies export products to only one foreign country, most often Mexico or Canada.
"If we just double that to 2 percent, we know what that does to our jobs picture. We know what that does to our exports. ... We're talking $300 billion to $500 billion of market opportunity," Kirk said, noting that about 3 to 5 percent of small and medium-sized companies in other countries are exporters.
Kirk said he had assigned Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Jim Sanford to head up the agency's efforts to reach out to small business exporters.
The United States also will make addressing small business concerns a priority in future trade talks, like one set to begin in March with Asia-Pacific countries, he said.
The push to get more small companies involved in trade comes as the Obama administration is looking for ways to create jobs without adding to the already huge federal deficit.
Small and medium-sized businesses created about 65 percent of new jobs over the past two decades, and those that export tended to pay higher wages and add jobs faster than non-exporting companies, the U.S. International Trade Commission said in a report this week.
The effort also is aimed at reversing the negative view many Americans have about trade.
"There's a growing cynicism in the country that our free trade agreements are great for our partners, not so good for us. ... We have to help Americans understand trade can work for us," Kirk said. (Reporting by Doug Palmer; Editing by Paul Simao)