EXIM Chairman Kimberly Reed Underscores Commitment to Businesses Owned by Persons with Disabilities on 30th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act
WASHINGTON - Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) President and Chairman Kimberly A. Reed offered the following statement on the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
"Sunday, July 26, 2020, marks the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act. As we celebrate the vast contributions of Americans with disabilities, I want to underscore that the Export-Import Bank of the United States is committed both to supporting a diverse EXIM workplace and educating small businesses-especially those owned by persons with disabilities-about how to export using EXIM programs. EXIM stands ready to empower all of our nation's businesses and workers so they can have a level playing field to compete and win in the competitive global marketplace. As we pause to commemorate the positive impacts of the ADA, we also are focused on the reopening of the American economy in the wake of COVID-19. EXIM provides tools that can deliver unprecedented opportunities for business owners with disabilities so that they can support U.S. jobs, reach new international customers, increase their export sales, and achieve greater business success."
On December 20, 2019, President Donald J. Trump signed into law bipartisan legislation passed by Congress to reauthorize EXIM for a historic seven years. As part of that legislation, EXIM is to increase from 25 to 30 percent its aggregate financing authority made available to small business and "encourage the participation of small business (including women-owned businesses, minority-owned businesses, veteran-owned, businesses owned by persons with disabilities, businesses in rural areas) and start-up businesses in international commerce, and to educate such businesses about how to export goods using [EXIM]." Click here for more resources.
On March 12, 2020, EXIM announced temporary COVID-19 relief measures including waivers, deadline extensions, streamlined processing, and flexibility for its working capital loan guarantee and export credit insurance programs to address the targeted needs of its customers due to the anticipated economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 25, 2020, EXIM's Board of Directors unanimously adopted a resolution affirming support of additional temporary relief measures including bridge financing, progress delivery payment financing, supply chain finance guarantees, and working capital guarantee expansions.
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.