U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke issued the following statement on the release of the July 2010 U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services report by the Commerce Department’s U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Today’s report showed that U.S. exports in July 2010 increased by 1.8 percent to $153.3 billion from their June 2010 level. Imports in July decreased 2.1 percent over June to $196.1 billion.

“The increase in exports and narrowing of the trade deficit underline how critical exports are to our continued economic growth and why the Commerce Department and the Obama administration are working aggressively to achieve the goals of the National Export Initiative -- doubling U.S. exports in the next five years,” Locke said.  “The private sector has now created jobs for eight months in a row and there are 3 million more Americans working today because of the steps this administration took to turn around our economy. But our work isn’t done. That’s why the president continues to put forward smart, targeted policies, such as the recently announced tax break for businesses that make new capital investments, which will foster growth and hiring in the short term and competitiveness in the long term.”  Fact sheet (PDF)  |  Release