Last week, Tod Cohen, Vice President & Deputy General Counsel of Government Relations at eBay Inc was interviewed on eBay radio. During the interview, he discussed the work the team is doing on Cross Border Trade. “We're working to ensure that markets all around the world are open and accessible, allowing people to more easily participate in the global marketplace.” Tod also highlighted how the Govt. Relations team is constantly ensuring users are protected from negative government activity around the world, which might inhibit their ability to sell cross border. “Over 97% of commercial sellers on eBay export, which we see as an opportunity to create jobs in the United States,” commented Cohen. The Government Relations team strives to be a thought leader in the space, trying to reform laws internationally that would discriminate against small businesses.

Most recently, eBay has formed a partnership with the United States Department of Commerce, which seeks to remove exporting barriers and improve the experience for small businesses. Additionally eBay CEO, John Donahoe, has become a part of President Obama's export counsel, which assists businesses in becoming better exporters, and generally works to ease exporting restrictions.