Summary: The Small Business Administration (SBA) spent about $3.7 million on export promotion programs in fiscal year 1991. Most of SBA's export promotion assistance is delivered through 21 subcenters of its Small Business Development Center program. These subcenters specialize in providing international trade assistance. GAO found that SBA has neither consistently emphasized export promotion nor fully determined its role in the federal effort to boost exports. SBA's export counseling lacks a strategic focus and, as a result, could be targeting the same clients that the Commerce Department is trying to serve. A 1990 law restricting SBA's ability to impose any new rules or regulations on its Small Business Development Center program makes it hard for SBA to better target its export counseling. Moreover, SBA's main export finance promotion program has been little used, and the agency may be overstating the extent to which its other finance programs help small businesses export. Also, SBA's ability to provide export promotion assistance beyond basic outreach and referral is hindered by the agency's domestic orientation and management structure.
