Obama Inks Executive Order to Streamline Import and Export Process for Businesses…

President Obama is making another move to flex his policy muscle outside of the gridlock of Congress, this time signing an executive order to streamline the processes required for small and medium-sized businesses to export American goods and services to other countries.

On Air Force One this morning, Obama signed an executive order to complete the International Trade Data System, a digital trade record book, by 2016. What that means is that instead of having to wait days on end for paperwork to be processed by countless government agencies, businesses will be able to file all of the paperwork digitally in one electronic location.   

Related: Startups Eschew the Made in America Label

Few details were offered, but the White House did say that the change would reduce processing and approval times from “days to minutes.”   

International trade is big business for the U.S. More than 50 million shipping containers totally $3.8 billion worth of goods move across the U.S. border each year.

The executive action from the White House follows up on a pledge the president made during his 2014 State of the Union address to bypass the stalemate between the House of Representatives and the Senate as much as he can to make change.

Related: Thinking About Doing Business Internationally? Tips for Handling Multiple Currencies

Catherine Clifford

Catherine Clifford is senior entrepreneurship writer at CNBC. She was formerly a senior writer at Entrepreneur.com, the small business reporter at CNNMoney and an assistant in the New York bureau for CNN. Clifford attended Columbi…

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