As the President’s Export Council meets today, officials are reporting that the United States is on track to meet President Obama’s goal of doubling U.S. exports within five years. 

The U.S. Commerce Department recently reported that “U.S. goods and services exports in the first four months of 2010 are up 16.9 percent to $587.4 billion from the $502.5 billion in exports in first four months of 2009.” An analysis by the Democratic Leadership Council indicates U.S. annual export growth must average 14.8 percent to double exports within five years.

So we’re off to a good start. However, the impressive figures from the Commerce Department have benefited from the fact that exports were depressed in the first four months of 2009, when the world economy was in the depths of a financial crisis.

Even so, doing away with foreign barriers to U.S. exports could make a huge difference -- and create badly needed jobs. As Bloomberg notes:

The president pledged June 26 at the Group of 20 summit in Toronto to revive the stalled free-trade talks with South Korea with a goal of finishing a deal in November during his planned visit to Seoul. The aim is to submit a free-trade deal to Congress in succeeding months, he said…

[U.S. Trade Representative Ron] Kirk gave no time estimate on completing agreements with Colombia and Panama. “We continue to make good progress” in talks with those countries, he said…

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce released a study in May showing that free-trade agreements boost economic growth by more than $300 billion a year, led by sales of U.S. products to Canada and Mexico, the top U.S. trading partners.

Those FTAs also directly support more than five million American jobs. To create more of the employment opportunities we so badly need, the three pending FTAs with Korea, Colombia and Panama will surely help. We just need to turn these words into action.