Support this station KPLU 88.5 - NPR News and All that Jazz
News for Seattle and the Northwest
Last updated 3:14AM ET
May 26, 2012
KPLU Local News
KPLU Local News
Secretary Locke Touting Trade as Recovery Engine
by KPLU business and labor reporter Bellamy Pailthorp (2010-09-17)
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke spoke Friday, September 17, 2010 at the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce. Locke is shown here in this July 2010 photo, taken at Andrews AFB in Maryland. AP photo.
SEATTLE, WA (KPLU) - The economic recovery may be painfully slow - but without unpopular steps taken by the Obama administration, it would be much worse. That was the main message in a speech by Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, who is here touting the expansion of trade as a key ingredient for turning the economy around. He spoke at the annual luncheon of the Greater Seattle Chamber.

It was a bit of a homecoming for Locke, who left Seattle 18 months ago to take the post of Commerce Secretary. He says his eight years as Governor of Washington - with an economy driven by trade and innovation - prepared him well for the job.

"More than most, we in Seattle and Washington State have seen how trade can create jobs and growth."

Locke is now at the helm of President Obama's National Export Initiative, which aims to double US exports over the next five years.

"Today, exports make up just 11 percent of our GDP. Compare that to countries like Germany, where exports account for nearly half the economy. We can do better than 11 percent."

He says right now just one percent of US companies export - and of those, more than half export to only one country. He says getting them to expand their markets could create millions of jobs.
© Copyright 2012, KPLU