Cultural Trade Promotion Act
The Cultural Trade Promotion Act aims to expand U.S. export promotion efforts to explicitly include creative industries and occupations—defined to cover arts, design, crafts, music, literature, language, and expressions of Native cultures or local heritage—as well as microenterprises and other small/medium businesses. The bill amends several existing trade and international development authorities to ensure that creative industries receive formal attention in strategic planning, export promotion, and international shipping access. It also broadens the federal recognition and support for Native Hawaiian arts and crafts and adds a dedicated creative industries representative to the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board. In short, the act seeks to build a more organized, government-wide effort to help artists, designers, craftspeople, musicians, writers, and related small ventures export their work and reach global markets. Potential impacts include expanding eligibility and focus for export programs to microenterprises (as defined by the microenterprise act), enhancing collaboration across Commerce, postal/shipping, and development agencies to improve logistics for small exporters, and elevating the visibility of creative-sector exporters in foreign aid and travel/tourism policy discussions. The overall effect could be more opportunities for small, culturally based businesses and communities to participate in international trade.
Key Points
- 1Redefines eligible exporters to include microenterprises, alongside small and medium-sized businesses, for export promotion efforts.
- 2Requires the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee’s strategic plan to explicitly consider promoting exports from creative industries and occupations.
- 3Expands native-culture exports focus by broadening support for Native Hawaiian arts and crafts, and by clarifying language related to handmade/creative goods.
- 4Establishes collaboration among the Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service leadership, and the Postmaster General to improve access to fast, reliable international shipping for microenterprises and small businesses.
- 5Adds creative industries and occupations to the focus areas of the U.S. foreign aid framework (Foreign Assistance Act) and ensures a permanent representative of creative industries on the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board.