For Immediate Release: April 12, 2007
Contact: Matt Braud   (202) 482-3809

Commerce Department Publishes First-Ever Trade Finance Guide

User-Friendly Resource Provides The Essentials On Finance Export Opportunities

WASHINGTON – The International Trade Administration’s (ITA) Office of Finance has published the Trade Finance Guide: A Quick Reference for U.S. Exporters. This comprehensive, informative and easy-to-understand tool was created specifically for U.S. small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

“The Trade Finance Guide is a first-of-its-kind finance resource for America’s small businessmen,” said Commerce Undersecretary for International Trade Franklin Lavin. “By taking advantage of this cost-effective, easy-to-obtain tool, U.S. exporters can enhance their competitiveness in today’s global marketplace and easily learn how to turn overseas opportunities into actual sales and profits.”

The Commerce Department will update the guide in the future. Each update will be posted on the web or published in print reflecting the feedback received from the department’s Trade Information Center, U.S. Export Assistance Centers, and Commercial Service’s overseas posts that directly assist U.S. businesses export their products and services to overseas markets.

The Trade Finance Guide is available online. Exporters can also obtain a copy from the Trade Information Center or through the Commercial Service’s network of domestic Export Assistance Centers and overseas posts. To find a local U.S. Export Assistance Center or an overseas Commercial Service office, please visit the U.S. government’s export portal at www.export.gov or contact the TIC at 1-800-USA-TRADE.

Background - The Trade Finance Guide was created through a public-private partnership formed with FCIB. The FCIB is an Association of Executives in Finance, Credit and International Business that serves as a not-for-profit business educator of credit and risk management that has extensive knowledge in trade finance training.

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