News

WASHINGTON - Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) President and Chairman Kimberly A. Reed today delivered prerecorded opening remarks to nearly 250 registrants on a "Trade Finance Tools for U.S. exporters" teleconference, hosted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and EXIM.

USDA Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Ted McKinney also gave opening remarks on the teleconference. Following Chairman Reed's remarks, participants heard from a panel including:

• Maria Dorsett, Agricultural Marketing Specialist, USDA
• Aerek Stephens, Export Finance Manager, EXIM

Chairman Reed underscored how USDA and EXIM's complementary trade finance solutions can help mitigate exporter's risk in today's business climate and facilitate agricultural sales in new and existing markets. She also highlighted EXIM's products and resources available to exporters, outlining how EXIM's COVID-19 relief measures can support economic growth, U.S. jobs, and the reopening of America.

Chairman Reed also discussed EXIM's new Program on China and Transformational Exports, which was established by the U.S. Congress as part of the agency's recent historic seven-year reauthorization. The program's purpose is to neutralize China's official export credit and advance the comparative leadership of the United States with respect to China. It also seeks to support U.S. innovation, employment, and technological standards, through direct exports in ten key industries, including biotechnology, wireless communication, biomedical sciences, renewable energy, and water treatment and sanitation, and related services which are directly connected to the innovations of modern agriculture.

"Given my extensive background with food and agriculture, I have made sure U.S. agriculture is a priority for EXIM and am committed to working together with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, Under Secretary Ted McKinney, and colleagues at USDA to increase awareness about our resources to agricultural exporters. I also value knowing what is happening on the ground across our nation so that EXIM can be there to fill needed gaps. As such, two tremendous State Commissioners of Agriculture, Commissioner Gary Black of Georgia and Commissioner Doug Goehring of North Dakota, now serve on our EXIM Advisory and Sub-Saharan Africa Advisory Committees and provide EXIM and me with important insights," said Chairman Reed. "America's farmers, ranchers, and agricultural supply chain have faced stiff competition abroad and have felt the impact of both COVID-19 and China's unfair trade practices. I am committed to supporting the growth, exports, and U.S. jobs within this vital American industry, supporting those who make our nation's great food, fuel, feed, and fiber exports possible. Secretary Perdue says it best: 'Do right and feed everyone.'"

Since fiscal year (FY) 2015, EXIM has supported approximately $3.5 billion in agriculture exports through short-term insurance, and in FY2019, 80 percent of the agricultural exports EXIM supported were associated with small businesses.

ABOUT EXIM:

EXIM is an independent federal agency that promotes and supports American jobs by providing competitive and necessary export credit to support sales of U.S. goods and services to international buyers. A robust EXIM can level the global playing field for U.S. exporters when they compete against foreign companies that receive support from their governments. EXIM also contributes to U.S. economic growth by helping to create and sustain hundreds of thousands of jobs in exporting businesses and their supply chains across the United States. In recent years, approximately 90 percent of the total number of the agency's authorizations has directly supported small businesses. Since 1992, EXIM has generated more than $9 billion for the U.S. Treasury for repayment of U.S. debt.

For more information about EXIM, please visit www.exim.gov.