News

WASHINGTON - Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) President and Chairman Kimberly A. Reed addressed more than 150 members of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) on Monday. EXIM, which has a 515-person workforce and $135 billion in financing authority, prioritizes supporting U.S. small-business exporters who need certainty and protection to tackle new markets, expand, and create jobs. In FY 2019, over 89 percent of EXIM's transactions - nearly 2,100 - directly supported exports from American small businesses.

During a virtual fireside chat with ASAE President and CEO Susan Robertson, followed by a question-and-answer session facilitated by ASAE Vice President for Public Policy Mary Kate Cunningham, Chairman Reed discussed the importance of engaging with diverse associations and their thousands of members and business partners who seek to succeed in the global marketplace through the export of outstanding American-made goods and services. She outlined EXIM's COVID-19 relief measures and reaffirmed the agency's continuing commitment to supporting U.S. businesses and jobs as the country reopens and the American economy rebounds.

"Chairman Reed has a wealth of insight and expertise to share about EXIM's role in boosting U.S. trade and job creation, which is more valuable than ever as we seek to jumpstart an economy staggered by the coronavirus pandemic," said ASAE President Robertson. "As a former association leader and a Certified Association Executive (CAE), she can draw on personal experience to help the ASAE community play its own influential role in America's recovery."

"I thank the American Society of Association Executives - the 'association of associations' - and its members, who represent every sector of our economy, for our robust conversation on leadership, strategic management, and how EXIM stands ready to support all sectors that seek to succeed in the competitive global marketplace," said Chairman Reed. "It was an honor to join more than 150 leaders, representing innovative industries like health care, biomedical sciences, transportation, energy, financial services, and manufacturing, as we come together to reopen America and transform our nation."

Chairman Reed also discussed EXIM's new Program on China and Transformational Exports, established in EXIM's historic reauthorization, which is intended to help level the playing field for U.S. exporters and workers by directly neutralizing export subsidies for competing goods and services offered by the People's Republic of China. In May, EXIM - which also is focused on supporting U.S. innovation, employment, and technological standards - launched its "Strengthening American Competitiveness" initiative, beginning with a series of teleconferences with American businesses and stakeholders. A full schedule of upcoming teleconferences - which will include sessions focused on water treatment and sanitation, space technology, biotechnology and biomedical sciences, semiconductors, and emerging financial technologies - and recordings of previous events can be found here.

Chairman Reed, who is a Certified Association Executive (CAE), took part in the event held during ASAE's virtual American Associations Week 2020. Now celebrating its 100^th anniversary, ASAE is a membership organization of more than 48,000 association executives and industry partners representing 7,400 organizations.

To build on this discussion and engage a broader audience interested in learning about EXIM programs, EXIM will host a complementary briefing - "Export Confidently: A Webinar with the Export-Import Bank of the United States on How to Increase Your Industry's Exports" - on Tuesday, July 14, 2020, from 11:00 to 11:45 a.m. ET. Click here to register or email external@exim.gov for more information. 

Complete information about EXIM's COVID-19 response is available on the coronavirus response page.

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.