Business leaders praised President Barack Obama’s plans to increase trade promotion efforts and provide more loans to small exporters, but cautioned this alone won’t be enough to reach his goal of doubling U.S. exports over the next five years.

The administration’s National Export Initiative calls for a 20 percent increase in next year’s budget for the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration, bringing it to $534 million. This would enable ITA to hire up to 328 trade experts to help U.S. companies find customers in foreign countries, with a particular focus on high-growth markets like China, India, and Brazil.

The ITA aims to help 23,000 businesses to start exporting or grow their international sales next year. Over the next five years, the agency is shooting for a 50 percent increase in the number of small and medium-size businesses that export to more than one market.

The administration also wants the Export-Import Bank to increase the financing it makes available to small and medium-size businesses from a record $4.4 billion last year to $6 billion next year. Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal agency that provides loan guarantees, export credit insurance, and direct loans to finance sales of U.S. exports.

The agency plans to expand its number of financial partners, take its road show to 16 cities, and work more closely with the Small Business Administration’s field staff to make sure small companies around the country know about its products.

The president also is requiring all agencies that play a role in international trade to develop plans to boost exports and coordinate their efforts with each other.

“This is the first time the United States will have a governmentwide export promotion strategy with focused attention from the president and his cabinet,” Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said. “This initiative will correct an economic blind spot that has allowed other countries to chip away at America’s international competitiveness.”

The plan also calls for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to negotiate new trade agreements that will give U.S. companies access to more markets and improve enforcement of existing trade deals.

Business groups said the National Export Initiative is long overdue.

“For too long, the United States has been standing on the sidelines while other nations are designing a new architecture for world trade,” said Myron Brilliant, senior vice president for international affairs for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “By standing still, we’re falling behind, and we must act swiftly to regain the initiative.”

“The U.S. export promotion program has been a shadow of what other countries do to support their exporters,” said Frank Vargo, vice president of international economic affairs for the National Association of Manufacturers.

But major policy changes will be needed to double U.S. exports in five years, he said.

First, the Obama administration needs to get Congress to ratify pending trade agreements with Columbia, South Korea, and Panama.

That “would lead to thousands of new manufacturing jobs,” Vargo said.

The administration also needs to modernize the export controls system, ensure currencies are fairly valued, and reduce the U.S. corporate income tax rate, according to the manufacturers’ association.

The Technology CEO Council, a group of prominent high-tech executives, agrees that tax policies need to be addressed to make U.S.-based companies more competitive with their global competitors.

“To double our exports, U.S. companies need worldwide operations and supply chains that span the globe,” said Bruce Mehlman, the council’s executive director. “Tax policies that increase the burden on U.S. companies’ global operations make American workers less competitive and undermine export-led economic recovery.”

The Obama administration has endorsed legislation that would have companies pay more taxes on income earned overseas.

But Senator Mary Landrieu, Democrat of Louisiana, praised the administration’s focus on boosting exports by small businesses.

“Exporting gives small businesses the opportunities they need to survive and grow at a time when sales at home are low,” said Landrieu, who chairs the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee.

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Kent Hoover is the Washington bureau chief for bizjournals.