A series of steps aimed at bolstering U.S. exports has so far brought a 17 percent increase in the first four months of 2010 over the same period last year, President Obama will announce Wednesday.

Obama's National Export Initiative, introduced during his State of the Union address in February, seeks to double exports over the next five years.

A White House statement said Obama, in a statement scheduled for later Wednesday, will show that the program is on schedule so far.

The program has made progress on its five main objectives, Obama will say, including the coordination of trade missions in 24 countries; increased loans to help American exporters; breaking down trade barriers; enforcing trade rules, and promoting international economic cooperation.

For example, the statement said, the United States has reached agreements in recent months to reopen exports of pork to China and poultry to Russia.

"Boosting America's exports strengthens our economic growth and supports millions of good, high-paying American jobs," Obama said in the statement that also named 18 additional members to the President's Export Council announced in March.

The panel is headed by W. James McNerney Jr., chairman, president and CEO of The Boeing Company, and Ursula Burns, chairman and CEO of Xerox Corporation.

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