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WASHINGTON - The Advisory Committee of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) convened a public virtual meeting yesterday to discuss how EXIM can best support U.S. companies as they compete globally. This is the first meeting of EXIM's newly-appointed 2020-2021 Advisory Committee, which is congressionally-mandated to advise EXIM on its programs and, in particular, on the extent to which the agency provides competitive financing to support American jobs through exports. The Advisory Committee is chaired by the Honorable Stevan Pearce.

EXIM President and Chairman Kimberly A. Reed delivered remarks at the opening of the meeting, highlighting the important work of the Advisory Committee, as well as EXIM's Program on China and Transformational Exports.

"I thank Chair Pearce and all of the new and returning members of the EXIM Advisory Committee for their commitment to EXIM's mission of supporting U.S. jobs by facilitating exports," said Chairman Reed. "The important work laid out in EXIM's historic reauthorization-including the Program on China and Transformational Exports-is strengthened by their diverse insight and expertise. I look forward to working with the committee members to ensure EXIM best fulfills its role."

"I commend Chairman Reed on her leadership and the work Chairman Reed has done in reauthorizing and reforming EXIM and look forward to serving as Chair of the Advisory Committee for another year," said Chair Pearce. "Increasingly, U.S. businesses are competing against foreign competitors that have the full weight of the Chinese government behind them, and the role of the EXIM Advisory Committee is critical as EXIM continues to stand up its Program on China and Transformational Exports."

"We are grateful to the members of the Advisory Committee who volunteer their time, energy, and valuable guidance to help EXIM fulfill our mission of sustaining American jobs by facilitating the export of U.S. goods and services worldwide," said EXIM Board Member and former Congressman Spencer Bachus.

During the meeting, EXIM Vice President for International Relations Isabel Galdiz updated the committee on the recent G12 Heads of Export Credit Agencies meeting, hosted virtually by EXIM in conjunction with EXIM's 2020 Annual Conference. She also gave the committee an overview of EXIM's 2020 Report to the U.S. Congress on Global Export Credit Competition.

EXIM's new Program on China and Transformational Exports was also a topic of the meeting, with Jonathan Baron, Principal at Baron Public Affairs, giving private-sector insight on global competition and China's international competitive strategy. EXIM Senior Vice President for the Program on China and Transformational Exports David Trulio also updated the committee on developments within the program. Chair Pearce recently established a Chairman's Council on China Competition, chaired by Ambassador Paula Dobriansky, to advise the EXIM Advisory Committee on how China is engaging in strategic competition against the United States, and how Beijing's actions impact American interests and economic security.

"Real world evidence strongly indicates that addressing the massive degree to which the PRC government supports its exporters is only possible with a U.S.-government-supported response," said Baron. "Chinese companies are de facto projects of Beijing - in theory, it's a great idea that companies are entirely on their own, independent from government support, and subject to market forces. The reality is that U.S. exporters are not competing in a free market. American companies have been collateral damage in a broader geopolitical confrontation: nation-state to nation-state competition, not company-to-company competition. EXIM's Program on China and Transformational Exports therefore addresses an urgent and practical challenge."

Trulio shared with Committee Members the Program's Vision - "To keep America strong by empowering U.S. businesses and workers to compete successfully against entities backed by the People's Republic of China" - and updated members on the Program's development of opportunities.

"It is our ultimate goal within the China Program that U.S. exporters, large and small, facing competition from Chinese state-backed entities achieve tangible results in the form of completed transactions that support U.S. jobs," said Trulio. "While I would stress that a great deal of work needs to be done to develop, assess, and complete individual transactions - and a number may never be executed - we estimate that our current pipeline of deals competing with China, across different levels of maturity, adds up to well over one billion dollars."

EXIM Advisory Committee Member and President of the Center for Financial Stability Lawrence Goodman updated the committee on the EXIM Board of Directors recent vote to reform and renew EXIM's public-private partnership with the Private Export Funding Corporation (PEFCO). The committee then voted to adopt a letter in support of the Board's action.

EXIM Chief Banking Officer Stephen Renna also updated the Advisory Committee on EXIM's COVID-19 relief measures, and role in supporting U.S. businesses as they recover from the economic challenges of the pandemic.

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.