President Obama to bring message on exports to New Orleans

President Barack Obama will be in New Orleans on Friday (Nov. 8) to talk about boosting U.S. exports, delivering his message from a city where exports are growing at one of the highest rates in the nation, powered in large part by a domestic energy boom.

Obama is scheduled to visit the Port of New Orleans to discuss the role of exports in growing the national economy -- an issue that reaches back to his 2010 pledge to double the nation's exports in five years. To that end, he created the National Export Initiative aimed at removing trade barriers overseas and helping companies penetrate new markets.

Obama is turning to the economy in New Orlean s on the heels of a trip to Dallas on Wednesday, where he urged participation in the federal health insurance marketplace amid a troubled rollout of the website.

In September, Obama told his private-sector export advisory board, led by the chiefs of Boeing and Xerox, that 'one of the biggest bright spots in our economy has been exports; the fact that 'Made in America' means something and has provided a boost to our domestic economy, and has reminded the world just how competitive we are.'

A Brookings Institution study recently found that while exports have driven post-recession growth in the 100 largest U.S. cities, the nation is $200 billion behind the Obama administration's goal of doubling exports by 2015. Only a dozen metro areas -- including New Orleans and Baton Rouge, powered by shipments of petroleum and chemicals -- are on track to achieve it.

As a whole, Louisiana saw exports increase by 3.4 percent during the first half of the year, compared to 2012, for a total of $29 billion, according to the World Trade Center of New Orleans. It ranked eighth among the states in dollar value.

Looking at it on a per-capita basis, the state ranks No. 1 in the nation, said Dominik Knoll, chief executive officer of the World Trade Center of New Orleans.

'I think New Orleans is one of the best places he could have chosen for exports,' Knoll said of the president's trip.

Total merchandise exports from Louisiana - primarily in petroleum and coal, agriculture and chemicals - were valued at $62.9 billion last year. The International Trade Administration says about 10 percent of the state's private-sector employment is export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing.

The state's principal export markets so far this year are Mexico, China and Singapore, along with Japan, Canada, Brazil, the Netherlands, Panama, Egypt and France.

Much of the growth in New Orleans exports can be linked to a domestic energy boom. The United States is producing more of its own energy, helped along by advanced drilling that provides access to difficult-to-reach shale gas and tight oil. With reduced oil imports, the United States is shrinking its trade deficit.

Crude oil exports are banned by federal law with a few narrow exceptions. Exports of refined petroleum -- diesel, jet fuel and gasoline - and natural gas are on the rise.

For example, the Gulf Coast was exporting an average of 2.3 million barrels per day of refined petroleum in August, up 200 percent from seven years ago, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Knoll said in addition to the energy boom, 60 percent of the nation's corn comes down the Mississippi River to Louisiana and is shipped globally by ocean vessel.

Gary LaGrange, president and CEO of the Port of New Orleans, said he welcomes the president's visit as a chance to showcase the economic activity and jobs centered at the docks.

'We're ecstatic,' LaGrange said. 'We're really looking forward to it. It's our chance to have our day in the sunshine. It's been too long, it's been 11 years since we've had a president visit the docks of New Orleans.'

In 2002, President George W. Bush stood on the Nashville Avenue Wharf, in the shadows of a cargo vessel stacked with shipping containers, and delivered a speech focused on his initiatives on free trade and energy production.

LaGrange said he thinks Obama's visit is a timely one, as the port prepares for a major expansion underway at the Panama Canal. The project is expected to be completed in 2015.