Here we go again: Uncle Sam trims dollars that were earmarked for trade.

"Don't believe the hype," soon may be an anthem resounding through chamber of commerce meetings for African American exporters.

Black entrepreneurs have been answering President Clinton's call for increased efforts to bolster trade ties with foreign nations. And much of the emphasis has been on promoting exports by small businesses. Now, African Americans may get left out of trade deals if Congress dismantles the Commerce Department in an attempt to shave close to $8 billion off the national budget.

If the Commerce Department doesn't survive, the services offered by the International Trade Administration (ITA) and the Small Business Administration will be melded into other federal agencies.

The proposal (expected to be passed this month) slams the ITA by cutting $45 million off its budget. The SBA was ordered to lower its loan guarantee on export loans to small businesses from 90% to 75%.

Commerce Secretary Ron Brown called the proposal "unilateral disarmament in the battle for global competitiveness." Black entrepreneurs may agree, since Congress' prime targets are agencies that are finally becoming friendly to people of color.

Over the last several years, U.S. trade officials committed themselves to increasing exports to African, Caribbean, Indian and Latin American countries. Black entrepreneurs started slipping into local export offices, scanning international trade databases for market research and vying to get SBA loan, guarantees.

Under the congressional mandates, ITA officials say there would be little or no market research, trade partnerships or field missions with the Caribbean Basin, Central America or Africa, among others.

Such cuts would hurt trade ties for small businesses relying on the information compiled on some 30 African countries. Experts say there would be no market counseling, trade policy or promotional support for 54% of U.S. exports to African regions.

In addition, the Big Emerging Markets offices in South Africa, Poland, Turkey, the Philippines and Vietnam would probably close. At press time, Brown expected the bill to be defeated by a presidential veto.

For exporters, the usefulness of the SBA's loan program is in jeopardy. The bill would allow the SBA to increase its total guaranteed lending in fiscal year 1996 to $12.6 billion from $8.25 billion in fiscal year 1995.

In general, the maximum SBA guarantee will be reduced from 90% to 80% for loans under $100,000. Slicing loan guarantees from 90% to a minimum of 75% creates a big problem for small business borrowers who already bicker with bankers to secure capital to finance exports. "Eliminating the existing 90% guarantee for this one program would appear to discriminate against smaller businesses that need SBA backing for their export loans," says SBA Administrator Philip Lader.

Larger companies seeking loans for more than $834,000 will continue to negotiate with the Ex-Im Bank, which still offers a 90% loan guarantee.

The congressional conference committee that wrote the final bill gave the SBA and the Ex-Im Bank 120 days (ending this month) to assess the impact of the reduced guarantee rate on EWCP loans for small business exporters.