President Obama will speak to the first meeting of the National Export Council at 9:45 a.m. today, and he is expected to provide more detail about how the Administration plans to support the achievement of its goal of doubling exports within five — now four-and-a-half –  years.

Cabinet officials have already previewed the news, Dow-Jones reports in “US Export Plan Hones In On Small Businesses, Developing Nations“:

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- U.S. cabinet secretaries laid out a plan Thursday to double exports by focusing largely on small businesses and developing countries, even as the administration steps up efforts to gain access to China and other markets.

Six months after President Barack Obama launched his signature trade initiative, the department heads that make up the Export Promotion Cabinet pointed to a strong start to the five-year export drive.

With sales abroad up 17.9% in the year to July, growth is outpacing the 15% annual rate needed for exports to reach $3.2 trillion in 2014.

The NAM’s Frank Vargo commented, emphasizing the pending free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and Korea, enactment of which could achieve a third of the hoped-for growth in exports: “We feel it cannot be done without really some far-reaching steps.”

More on the Export Council’s meeting from the White House:

Announcement: The President’s Export Council will convene a meeting at 9:30 a.m., Thursday, September 16, 2010, to discuss topics related to the National Export Initiative, and advice as to how to promote U.S. exports, jobs, and growth, via live webcast on the Internet at https://www.whitehouse.gov/live/.

Manufacturers are well represented on the council. Chairman is James McNerney, Jr., Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Boeing Company. Vice chairman is Ursula M. Burns, Chief Executive Officer, Xerox Corp.

Burns and Xerox are the cover story in the latest Barrons’ magazine, by the way, “Xerox Delivers — The copier giant’s push into data services is starting to produce picture-perfect results. Why its stock could double.”

P.S. Homes in, not hones in.