Schatz introduces legislation to boost cultural trade amid competition from China

US Sens Brian Schatz of Hawai‘i and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee introduced on Wednesday the Cultural Trade Promotion Act of 2025.

The bipartisan legislation aims to strengthen America’s creative industries and expand cultural exports. By bolstering the creative economy, this legislation will help US businesses — including Native-owned, small, and rural enterprises — reach new global markets, create jobs, and strengthen America’s influence abroad amidst increasing competition from China, according to a news release.

“America’s creative industries are a powerful force, driving jobs at home and shaping perceptions of our country abroad. Recently, China has doubled down on promoting its cultural exports, and we’ve been falling behind,” said Schatz, a member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. “This bipartisan bill will help us level the playing field by expanding export opportunities for American businesses everywhere from Maui to Memphis so that our creative economy remains the global leader.”

According to Schatz: Over the past decade, China has aggressively expanded its cultural trade through coordinated government investments and programs. In 2014, China surpassed the United States in overall cultural exports, and it continues to leverage cultural promotion as part of its Belt and Road Initiative. Meanwhile, America’s cultural trade surplus has declined, dropping from $31.5 billion in 2019 to $17.8 billion in 2021 before rebounding slightly to $21 billion in 2022, according to the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Cultural Trade Promotion Act would direct the Foreign Commercial Service to promote US creative economy goods abroad and require the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee to include the creative economy in its annual governmentwide strategic plan. The bill would also improve access to international shipping services for small businesses by facilitating collaboration between the International Trade Administration and the US Postal Service. Additionally, it would promote products from American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-owned businesses and include a representative of the creative industries on the Department of Commerce’s Travel and Tourism Advisory Board.