Shaheen Chairs, NH Businessman Attends Hearing on Boosting American Exports
EXPORT
New Hampshire Union Leader
Joseph Markman
Boston University Washington News Service
12/09/09
WASHINGTON – The glitz of recent economic development in countries like China and India should not overshadow America’s more lucrative trade relationship with Europe, economists said at a hearing Wednesday chaired by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.
New Hampshire businessman Charles Howland stressed that point in his testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on European Affairs. Howland, president and chief engineer of Warwick Mills, Inc., a New Ipswich company that engineers protective textiles, joined with the chief economist at the U.S. State Department and two other experts in examining the trade and investment ties between the United States and Europe.
With high unemployment and stagnant economic growth, the United States needs to find ways to encourage small and medium-sized businesses to invest in markets across the Atlantic Ocean, Shaheen said.
“It is easy to forget that, by far, America’s largest, most vibrant, and perhaps its most critical economic relationship is actually with Europe,” Shaheen said at the hearing. “It would be a mistake to neglect this crucial partnership as we attempt to dig ourselves out of this economic downturn.”
Robert Hormats, undersecretary of state for economic, energy, and agricultural affairs, testified that American exports to the European Union are more than five times the amount sent to China every year. Even combining China with Russia, Brazil and India, the European connection is much more substantial, Hormats said.
“We need to build on this strong, transatlantic foundation,” he said.
New Hampshire has its own ties to the European market. Shaheen, when she was governor, led the state’s first trade delegation outside of North America, and in 2007 Europeans bought nearly $1 billion worth of goods from companies in New Hampshire, Shaheen said.
Warwick Mills was founded in 1870 with a focus on making cotton textiles. Through the decades, it has produced parachute fabric for the U.S. military during World War II, created a specialized weave for use in body armor, and made high-strength fabric for the space shuttle Endeavour’s parachute, according to the company’s Web site.
Howland said more than 50 percent of his sales are to the European market, which is his most important business relationship. Key partners include Germany, France, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
In order for Warwick Mills and other American companies to succeed overseas, Howland said they need to focus on developing “best in class” technical products to sell to niche markets. That way, Howland said, the United States can work to retain or create manufacturing jobs.
“We exist on the value of our innovation,” he said. “We must innovate to thrive.”
Howland called on the Department of Defense to work more closely with the Commerce Department in its Small Business Innovation Research initiative, in the hopes of facilitating American exports. The initiative provides up to $850,000 in early-stage research and development funding directly to small technology companies.
The New Hampshire businessman said most small businesses in the United States find exporting “a mystery” because the large domestic market has made it easy for them to avoid the more difficult task of getting their product overseas. He urged the government to create a “portal” involving some combination of embassies and government trade departments to encourage Atlantic trade and boost the U.S. economy.
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