News

WASHINGTON - Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) President and Chairman of the Board of Directors Kimberly A. Reed, along with hundreds of EXIM employees, today congratulated James C. Cruse (Jim), EXIM's Senior Vice President of Policy Analysis and International Relations (OPAIR), on his 50 years of service at EXIM. Cruse first joined EXIM in 1970 as a country economist and became the Senior Vice President of OPAIR in 2002.

James C. "Jim" Cruse

"Jim Cruse is one of the most well-known and respected leaders in the field of official export credit finance both in the United States and around the world. EXIM is an 86-year old institution and Jim has been an integral part of this agency's history and accomplishments for fifty of those years," said EXIM Chairman Kimberly Reed. "Jim has served his nation with excellence, honor, and distinction, and is to be commended for his exceptional contributions as a champion for U.S. exporters and jobs. The entire EXIM team looks forward to continuing to work with and learn from Jim as he continues to serve the American people here at EXIM."

Since joining EXIM, Cruse has had a variety of assignments and contributed to many of the policy and program developments which lie at the core of today's EXIM.  He is known as the "father" of EXIM's annual Report to the U.S. Congress on Global Export Credit Competition, which was first mandated by Congress in 1971 and is now in its 53rd edition. He was lauded at a 2019 U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Development hearing on EXIM's reauthorization. 

Cruse's accomplishments also include the following:

• The mid-1970's inter-agency crafting of a logical role for export credit agencies after the collapse of the Bretton Woods fixed exchange rate system;
• The mid-1980's development of a revamped program structure in response to the Latin American debt crisis and the retreat of commercial banks from export finance;
• The early 1990's creation of a securitized guarantee;
• Over 30 years of OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) negotiations, including the 2009 Buyer Premia Agreement and the 2011 Aircraft Sector Understanding;
• EXIM's policy and program response to the 2008 financial crises and the ensuing Basel III regulation;
• The 2019 historic seven-year reauthorization of EXIM; and
• Key reforms and transformations important to the future of EXIM.

In a virtual celebration of Jim's 50^th anniversary at EXIM, his colleagues hailed him as a true leader, irreplaceable, and a perfect example of a civil servant.

Jim Cruse and his wife, Cookie, during a virtual celebration of his 50^th Anniversary at EXIM

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.