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Products & Policies | Special Initiatives

Small Business Initiative

Ex-Im Bank is committed to support small business exporters. In fact, about 85% of the Bank’s transactions support small businesses. Small businesses can access all Ex-Im Bank products, including specialized small business financing tools such as our working capital guarantee and export credit insurance.

Our working capital guarantee and insurance products enable small businesses to increase sales by entering new markets, expand their borrowing base, and offer buyers financing while carrying less risk. Often, small-sized exporters do not have adequate cash flow or cannot get a loan to fulfill an export sales order. The Ex-Im Bank working capital guarantee assumes up to 90% of the lender's risk so exporters can access the necessary funds to purchase or produce US-made goods and services for export.

Our short-term insurance policies protect an exporter against non-payment by their foreign buyers due to both commercial (insolvency, bankruptcy and default) and political risks (war, revolution, transfer risk) and also allows exporters to extend competitive credit terms to their foreign buyers. To qualify as a small business, the U.S. exporter (together with affiliates) must meet the U.S. Small Business Administration's definition of a small business and have annual export credit sales of less than $5 million (excluding confirmed letters of credit and cash in advance) for the last two years (including those of their affiliates). There are two types of short-term insurance policies - single buyer, which covers single or multiple shipments to one buyer, and multi-buyer, which covers an exporter's entire export portfolio. Features of the multi-buyer insurance policy include:

• No first-loss deductible
• Simplified premium-rate schedule
• Enhanced assignment (for qualified exporters), an attractive financing feature that allows a lender to add foreign receivables into the borrowing base or advance funds on the insured receivables with limited risk.

Ex-Im Bank works with small businesses at the local level through its five regional offices that provide assistance to companies in their territories. We also work through a nationwide network of over 50 City/State Partners - state and local organizations that provide information and assistance on the Ex-Im Bank's products. We also work with 120 delegated authority lenders in 48 states and the District of Columbia that can directly commit Ex-Im Bank's guarantee on working capital loans. In addition to our regional office staff, insurance brokers in every state can assist with Ex-Im Bank's export credit insurance applications.

Ex-Im Bank participates in approximately 20 trade shows and sponsors more than 20 exporter seminars every year, including events involving small exporters as well as exporters of environmentally beneficial goods and services.

Last updated: March 17, 2008