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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: Manufacturing and Services

The mission of the Manufacturing and Services (MAS) program is to strengthen the competitiveness of U.S. industry by addressing commercial and economic impediments that disadvantage U.S. companies overseas.

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.
  • Resources are often not effectively targeted towards their best use. MAS researches policies that affect U.S. competitiveness and makes recommendations that support trade negotiations. However, MAS should continue to assess its structure and resource-use to ensure they are effective in a dynamic economy.
  • MAS has not been rigorously evaluated. While the Government Accountability Office and the Commerce Inspector General have studied elements of MAS programs, no independent program evaluation has been completed that focuses on whether the program is accomplishing its mission and meeting long term goals.
  • Overall, MAS is achieving its performance goals to a small extent. MAS regulatory cost saving recommendations totaled $354 million, which is on target to MAS's goal of $1.9 billion in aggregate cost savings by 2010. During 2005, MAS did not reach its Percent of Agreement Milestones Completed because free trade agreements with Thailand and the United Arab Emirates were not completed.

Improvement Plan

About Improvement Plans

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

  • Undertaking a rigorous assessment of MAS's current structure to make sure that it matches today's economy and will yield the best results for U.S. industry's competitiveness.
  • Implementing an independent review board that will review and evaluate the work produced by MAS.
  • Developing and implementing an activity-based cost accounting system to better link budget requests to accomplishments.

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