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ExpectMore.govExpectMore.gov home pageEXPECT FEDERAL PROGRAMS TO PERFORM WELL, AND BETTER EVERY YEAR.
Program Assessment

Program

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International Trade Administration: U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service

The program assists US companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), in pursuit of foreign trade opportunities. The program also houses the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee (TPCC), an interagency committee that coordinates the government's trade promotion activities.

Rating

What This Rating Means

PERFORMING
Adequate

This rating describes a program that needs to set more ambitious goals, achieve better results, improve accountability or strengthen its management practices.
  • The US and Foreign Commercial Service (US & FCS) has improved program efficiency. In recent years, the US & FCS has taken steps to improve program efficiency, such as co-locating offices with state and local economic development offices and partnering with private sector companies.
  • The Program is taking steps to perform an impact evaluation. US&FCS has had process evaluations that have complimented aspects of the program's administration, but it has not had an impact evaluation assessing achievement of program mission and goals. An impact evaluation and the relatively new performance measures will make determining actual program impact and performance better.
  • While the TPCC coordinates effectively on many ad hoc issues, the group could strengthen its strategic planning by incorporating shared performance measures into the National Export Strategy. This will help to ensure that the government-wide export strategy includes measurable performance outcomes and documents the impact of USG trade promotion activities on a government-wide basis.

Improvement Plan

About Improvement Plans

We are taking the following actions to improve the performance of the program:

  • Completing an impact evaluation that assesses achievement of the program's mission and goals.
  • Developing a plan for performance assessment with other TPCC agencies to assess the overall U.S. Government's impact on export expansion, especially among SME's.
  • Implementing a financial system to better track how resources are applied to program goals and the actual cost of services provided.

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