Export-Import Bank

The Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank) was established on February 12, 1934, as the official export credit agency of the United States. The mission of the agency is to assist in financing the export of U.S. goods and services to international markets. The agency was originally incorporated as the ExportImport Bank of Washington until 1968, when the name was shortened to Ex-Im Bank. Services and products provided by the Ex-Im Bank include basically two categories of assistance: (1) financial products and support for U.S. companies exporting abroad and (2) financial products and support to foreign entities to establish and maintain markets for U.S. products.

The bank's programs come in the form of direct loans, export credit insurance, working capital guarantees, and financing for special projects such as environmental programs or small business initiatives. The Ex-Im Bank has supported the following specific programs in the recent past. In the environmental category, the bank has provided financing for the export of environmentally beneficial U.S. goods to foreign markets, including renewable energy exports such as wind turbines, photovoltaic panels, solar energy outdoor lighting, and geothermal plant services. The bank provides financial support for infrastructure that facilitates trade in foreign markets in the form of new airports, telecommunications projects, and transportation security programs.

Another initiative includes transportation products (aircraft, locomotives) and transportation security. Other areas of recent emphasis include electronics, telecommunications, mass transit, medical equipment, and the promotion and support of U.S. services in foreign markets, such as engineering, design, construction, oil drilling, training, and consulting. The Ex-Im Bank also provides support for markets of agricultural products from the United States including commodities, livestock, foodstuffs, equipment, chemicals, supplies, and services. In addition, the bank partners with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to assist small businesses seeking to sell their products or services in foreign markets. The Ex-Im Bank and the SBA can coguarantee loans up to $2 million. This partnership enables small businesses to obtain more capital than they could acquire under the SBA program alone. More than 80% of the bank's transactions benefit U.S. small businesses.

The Ex-Im Bank provides pre-export financing, financing for foreign buyers of U.S. products and services, and insurance to protect against buyer nonpayment. The bank can provide long-term credits to public or private entities, credits to foreign lending institutions for the purpose of lending funds to local businesses, and credits to countries with dollar shortages to maintain a consistent flow of trade of U.S. goods and services. Rather than compete with the private sector, the Ex-Im Bank offers financial products and services the private sector would normally not engage in.

The bank deals only with the export of U.S. goods and services; it does not finance imports. Governance of the bank includes a congressionally mandated [Page 837]advisory committee, 23 bank officers, and a board of five to seven directors appointed by the president of the United States. While the bank is headquartered in Washington, D.C., it operates out of six regional areas of the United States. In the past 5 years, the Ex-Im Bank has completed at least 11,000 total transactions involving $65.5.

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