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The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) is proposing modifications to its economic impact procedures to ensure their effectiveness in supporting U.S. exports and jobs in the changing economic environment.

Ex-Im Bank Chairman John E. Robson stated, We want to be sure that these procedures enable us to effectively judge whether an Ex-Im Bank-supported export sale's benefit to U.S. production and jobs outweighs potential injury to the U.S. economy and provides a fair and open process for balancing competing interests.

Ex-Im Bank has identified two major areas for change: 1) expansion of the universe of data used to analyze economic impact, and 2) procedural changes that make the analysis process more transparent, broaden the opportunity for the presentation of economic data and views by interested parties, and use outside experts for guidance in evaluating data on certain cases.

To make Ex-Im Bank's proposal widely available to all interested parties, a copy of it may be obtained from Ex-Im Bank's web site — www.exim.gov. A public meeting will be held at Ex-Im Bank on Tuesday, July 31, 2001, to discuss the proposed changes to the economic impact procedures. Parties wanting to submit written comments may send them by August 17, 2001, to Ex-Im Bank via e-mail at economic.impact@exim.gov, or by regular mail, attention Economic Impact Procedures Review.

Ex-Im Bank periodically reviews and revises its policies and procedures, including its economic impact procedures. The economic impact procedures were first mandated by Congress in 1968 and have been modified several times since then, to refine Congressional intent and reflect changing economic conditions. The procedures guide Ex-Im Bank's board of directors in deciding whether a transaction merits support.

Ex-Im Bank is an independent U.S. government agency that helps finance the sale of U.S. exports primarily to emerging markets throughout the world, by providing loans, guarantees, and insurance. Ex-Im Bank supported $15.5 billion in U.S. exports in fiscal year 2000.

(Ex-Im Bank periodically reviews its policies and procedures, including its economic impact procedures, to ensure that they effectively serve Ex-Im Bank stakeholders.)

The proposed changes to Ex-Im Bank's economic impact analysis include:

• use of a broader range of data in the analysis (for example, the broad competitive impacts of increased foreign production on U.S. producers' domestic and foreign market share)
• a more transparent and easy-to-access analytical process (for example, procedures to notify interested parties of transactions that might raise economic impact considerations and provide them with a comment period).
• early notification of applicants about potential economic impact considerations of a case, to provide them with greater certainty.
• use of outside experts to advise the Board on extensive and sometimes conflicting data on individual cases.