EXIM Seeks Public Comment on its Content Policy Specific to the Agency's New "Program on China and Transformational Exports"
WASHINGTON - The Federal Register posted a notice for public review and comment that the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM)-in implementation of its historic seven-year reauthorization and Congressional directive to establish a new "Program on China and Transformational Exports"-is considering changes to its medium- and long-term content policy with respect to the new directive.
EXIM's Program on China and Transformational Exports has the dual aim to directly neutralize export subsidies for competing goods and services financed by official export credit, tied aid, or blended financings provided by the People's Republic of China (PRC); and to advance the comparative leadership of the United States with respect to the PRC, or support U.S. innovation, employment, and technological standards, through direct exports in ten transformational export sectors.
Exporters and stakeholders in transformational export sectors regularly identify EXIM's stringent content policy-which is the most-restrictive by far in the world-as the greatest challenge to securing EXIM support for American exports to foreign markets. This concern was further emphasized during EXIM's 2020 "Strengthening American Competitiveness" initiative-where more than 1,000 stakeholders participated in eight public teleconferences-specifically when it comes to neutralizing the PRC and supporting transformational exports.
"Congress passed, and President Trump signed into law, EXIM's historic seven-year reauthorization on December 20, 2019, which included a provision requiring EXIM to stand up one of the most important programs in our agency's 86-year history-the Program on China and Transformational Exports," said EXIM President and Chairman Kimberly Reed. "American businesses and workers seeking to export their high-quality goods and services around the world face intense competition from the People's Republic of China and its 'Belt and Road' initiative, particularly in transformational export sectors - including artificial intelligence; biotechnology; biomedical sciences; wireless communications equipment (5G); quantum computing; renewable energy, energy efficiency, and energy storage; semiconductors; emerging financial technologies; water treatment and sanitation; and high performance computing - that are part of our new Congressional mandate.
"As I have heard from stakeholders from day one of my tenure as Chairman, EXIM's current content policy must be modernized to enable it to support these sectors key to our long-term prosperity and security," Reed added. "I now look forward to hearing additional views on this important topic through this public comment process, as we at EXIM focus on fulfilling our legislative mandate with respect to China and improving the competitiveness of American businesses on a global scale."
The text of EXIM-related Congressional reauthorization provisions (P.L. 116-94 - Division I, Title IV-Export-Import Bank Extension), including the Program on China and Transformational Exports (Section 402), has been codified and incorporated into EXIM's Charter and is available here.
Comments may be submitted through regulations.gov. To submit a comment, enter Public Notice: EIB-2020-0011 under the heading "Enter Keyword or ID" and select Search. Follow the instructions provided at the Submit a Comment screen. Please include your name, company name (if any) and Public Notice: EIB-2020-0011 on any attached document. Comments are due by December 14, 2020.
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.