Gary Locke

March 5, 2010 -- WASHINGTON -- U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke today, joined by Senator Mary Landrieu, announced an $80 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) investment to help bridge the technological divide, boost economic growth, create jobs, and improve education and healthcare in Louisiana.

The grant will bring high-speed Internet access to more than 80 community anchor institutions—including universities, K-12 schools, libraries, healthcare facilities—and lay the groundwork for bringing affordable broadband service to thousands of homes and businesses in the region.    » read more »

Secretary Locke committed to support the travel and tourism industryMarch 4, 2010 -- WASHINGTON -- President Obama signed the Travel Promotion Act of 2009 (TPA) into law today, putting into place a new public-private partnership between the U.S. government and the nation’s travel and tourism industry.

The U.S. Department of Commerce stands ready to work with the private sector to promote international travel to the United States. “When international visitors come to the United States they spend money on a wide range of goods and services that support U.S. jobs,” said Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke. “Creating a global tourism promotion program to encourage international visitors to vacation in America will help spur economic growth and create more jobs.”    » read more »

Applauds Fisheries Disaster Declaration for Western Alaska; Commerce Sec. Locke Announces Decision in Anchorage

January 15, 2010 -- U.S. Senator Mark Begich issued the following statement following an announcement by Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to issue a Disaster Declaration for the Yukon River Chinook salmon fishery for 2008 and 2009:

"I am very pleased Secretary Locke has answered our requests and those of Western Alaska fishermen to declare a disaster after complete fishery failures in 2008 and 2009. This declaration recognizes the hardships imposed on Alaskans in this region by the closure of commercial and subsistence fishing for Chinook for the past two years.    » read more »

December 7, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced today that a second round of funding opportunities for transformational energy research projects that will be made available through the Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E).

At an event today with Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, Secretary Chu announced $100 million in Recovery Act funding will be made available to accelerate innovation in green technology, increase America’s competitiveness and create jobs. Today’s announcement comes in advance of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.    » read more »

November 13, 2009 -- WASHINGTON -- U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke issued the following statement on the release of the September 2009 U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services report by the Commerce Department’s U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Today’s report showed that U.S. exports increased by 2.9 percent to $132.0 billion since August 2009. Imports increased 5.8 percent to $168.4 billion.    » read more »

Fact Sheet

October 29, 2009 -- U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, together with Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan, co-chaired the 20th JCCT in Hangzhou, China, on October 28-29, 2009. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack also participated. Other participants included U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA) Acting Director Leocadia Zak, and representatives from the Treasury and State Departments.    » read more »

HANGZHOU, Oct. 29, 2009 - China agreed today to reopen its market to U.S. pork and live swine, remove barriers for American firms to China's growing clean energy market, and clamp down on Internet piracy at the 20th session of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) in Hangzhou, China, co-chaired by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk along with Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack led the discussions on key agricultural issues.    » read more »

October 14, 2009 -- WASHINGTON—The U.S. Commerce Department’s Census Bureau today released retail sales for September 2009. Retail sales fell 1.5 percent, primarily reflecting a 10.4 percent decline in motor vehicle sales. The drop in total sales was smaller than the decrease of 2.1 percent expected by private analysts.

Gasoline sales rose 1.1 percent, and sales excluding motor vehicles and gasoline increased 0.4 percent. In the third quarter as a whole, total retail sales rose 6.4 percent at an annual rate, and sales excluding the volatile motor vehicle and gasoline components rose 0.6 percent.    » read more »

October 1, 2009 -- WASHINGTON—U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke proposed reforms to modernize America’s export controls system, which will enhance national security and increase the competitiveness of U.S. companies, in a speech at the Bureau of Industry and Security’s Update Conference on Export Controls today. The United States export control system seeks to prevent sensitive items from falling into the hands of those who seek to do us harm.    » read more »

Sept. 24, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Commerce Secretary Gary Locke today unveiled an accelerated plan for developing standards to transform the U.S. power distribution system into a secure, more efficient and environmentally friendly Smart Grid and create clean-energy jobs.

The draft of the report is available at http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/smartgrid_interoperability.p....    » read more »

September 1, 2009 -- WASHINGTON—U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke welcomes news that, effective today, China will remove the discriminatory taxes it has been imposing on imported auto parts. China had until September 1 to come into compliance with a WTO ruling that China’s auto policies were inconsistent with WTO rules.

The United States, along with Canada and the European Union, had welcomed that ruling. China’s Commerce Ministry and other government agencies announced action today abolishing the discriminatory taxes.    » read more »

First designation for a company in India will cut red tape and increase flow of high-technology trade between the two countries

June 17, 2009 -- WASHINGTON—Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke today announced an important step forward in the strategic partnership between the United States and India during remarks to the U.S.-India Business Council’s 34th Anniversary “Synergies Summit.”

General Electric India (GE India) has been tapped as the first Indian company to qualify as a validated end-user (VEU) in India, allowing the company to enter a pre-approved, export express lane as a trusted end user.    » read more »

Only One Week Left to Prepare for the June 12 National Switch to Digital Television

June 5, 2009 --
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke today urged Americans who rely on over-the-air broadcasting – typically those who use older televisions with “rabbit ears” or a rooftop antenna – to take immediate action so that at least one television in their household continues working when the nationwide switch to digital television occurs one week from today. The transition to digital will free up airwaves for broadband and enhanced emergency communications for our police officers, firefighters and other first responders.

Consumers who have TV sets with digital tuners or that are connected to cable, satellite or another pay TV service do not need to act.    » read more »

"Stimulus Should Be Used to Create Jobs, Not Relocate Them"

June 3, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) wrote to Commerce Secretary Gary Locke today regarding a plan by the city of Columbus, Georgia to request economic recovery funds to help support the relocation of NCR from Dayton, Ohio. Brown urged Locke to prevent economic recovery funds from being used to relocate jobs from one state to another.

“The purpose of ARRA is to create or retain jobs, not to relocate them from state to state,” Brown wrote in his letter today to Secretary Locke. “Stimulus funds should not be used in a manner that benefits one local economy at the expense of another.”    » read more »

June 1, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Iowa Governor Chet Culver and U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke today announced a $4.6 million Economic Development Administration (EDA) investment to St. Luke’s Health Care Foundation and Coe College of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to help build an energy efficient, natural gas, steam heating plant that will restore permanent heating capacity to the hospital and college following flood damage inflicted in 2008. St. Luke’s Hospital and Coe College employ more than 3,000 workers.

The announcement comes after Governor Culver met with Secretary Locke in Washington, D.C., to discuss ongoing recovery efforts after last year’s natural disasters.    » read more »