The FINANCIAL -- America's political leaders have recognized the importance of U.S. exports to the economy and just recently approved three free trade agreements, but a new survey shows more needs to be done to educate small-and mid-sized businesses on the potential of engaging in global trade,according to UPS.

The UPS "Perceptions of Global Trade" survey of more than 1,000 SMBs, conducted for global logistics company UPS, found that 24 percent of the nation's small and medium-sized businesses currently are engaged in global commerce.

Those SMBs who don't export any of their products say the dour economic news of recent years has discouraged them, "but that's exactly why SMBs should be expanding to international markets," observed Dan Brutto, president of UPS International.As part of that support, the U.S. National Export Initiative aims to boost exports from $1.57 trillion in 2009 to $3.14 trillion by 2015 by eliminating trade barriers and increasing access to export financing, among other measures.

A large bipartisan majority in Congress just approved three new free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama. President Obama signed the new accords on Oct. 21.The SMBs who already export report plenty of upside. Of the exporters surveyed, 64 percent saw a financial return within two years and 34 percent saw a financial return in less than six months. Almost half of respondents said they expect to double their businesses' exports by 2015 and 66 percent say that up to 25 percent of their annual revenue comes directly from exporting.

SMBs engaged in global business reported the most success exporting to Canada, Mexico, the UK and Australia, countries with which the U.S. either has free trade agreements or bilateral trade relations. In contrast, nearly two-thirds of SMB exporters say they have not had success exporting to the BRIC countries in the past 10 years. There are no U.S. free trade agreements with these nations.

The survey also revealed other steps to help SMBs take the exporting plunge and included changing government policies, such as offering tax incentives, and boosting sales opportunities. Such changes would appear to be of particular interest to medium-sized business, which the survey found were generally more likely to export.

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