For Immediate Release: April 17, 2008
Contact: Matt Braud   (202) 482-3447

Commerce Department Releases Updated Trade Finance Guide

Improved, User-Friendly Tool Provides Essentials To Finance Export Opportunities

WASHINGTON – The International Trade Administration’s (ITA) Manufacturing and Services unit has published an updated version of the Trade Finance Guide: A Quick Reference for U.S. Exporters.  This concise and easy-to-understand tool was created specifically for U.S. small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). 

“Since its publication last year, the Trade Finance Guide has been an effective, useful finance resource for America’s small- and medium-sized enterprises,” said William G. Sutton, Commerce Assistant Secretary for Manufacturing and Services.  “This tool helps SMEs turn export opportunities into actual sales and makes it easier for them to do business internationally.”

The second edition includes a new chapter on foreign exchange risk management, as well as updates to all of the other chapters.  The additional content is in response to the interest expressed by a number of SMEs that wish to export more efficiently in foreign currencies by mitigating the risk of currency exchange loss.

The Commerce Department will regularly update the guide based on feedback received from the Department’s Trade Information Center, U.S. Export Assistance Centers, and the Commercial Service’s overseas posts that assist U.S. businesses in exporting their products and services to overseas markets.

The Trade Finance Guide is available online at www.trade.gov, the U.S. government’s export portal.  Exporters can obtain printed copies from the Trade Information Center at 1-800-USA-TRAD(E), and from the Commercial Service’s global network of domestic Export Assistance Centers and overseas posts.

Background - The Trade Finance Guide was created through a public-private partnership formed with FCIB and in cooperation with the Small Business Administration, Ex–Im Bank, the International Factoring Association, and the Association of Trade & Forfaiting in the Americas.  FCIB, an Association of Executives in Finance, Credit, and International Business, is a prominent business educator of credit and risk management to exporting companies of every size. 

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