2010-07-08 01:24

WASHINGTON -- US President Barack Obama said Wednesday that the country's exports grew almost 17 percent over the first four months of this year compared to the same period last year, on track to reach the president's goal of doubling exports over five years.

"Part of this, of course, is due to the global recovery. But we 're also moving forward on improving conditions for America's exporters," Obama said at the White House after meeting with his Export Promotion Cabinet a day earlier.

The cabinet, created by the president in March, was to carry out the National Export Initiative, which was announced by Obama during his January State of the Union address as part of a broad economic plan to stimulate economic and job growth.

 "Since we launched the National Export Initiative, we've made progress across its five objectives," said Obama. The objectives outlined in the initiative include improved advocacy efforts on behalf of US exporters; increased access to export financing; reinforced efforts to remove barriers to trade; enforcement of trade rules; and international promotion of policies leading to strong, sustainable and balanced economic growth.