In the global competitive market, U.S. companies are often up against other foreign exporters supported by strong financing from their governments. How can American manufacturers be more competitive when they export? What will it take to succeed? 

 

Chairman Fred P. Hochberg of Export-Import Bank of the U.S. outlined "the unprecedented challenges facing our nation's exporters" in a keynote address on July 30 at the Center for American Progress that accompanied the federal agency's Competiveness Report.

 

The Export-Import Bank of the U.S. (Ex-Im Bank) is a member of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an international organization helping governments tackle the economic, social, and governance challenges of a globalized economy.

 

Hochberg highlighted key findings from the report - none more sobering than, "U.S. exporters compete in many markets and sectors that other countries have targeted as a 'national interest,' either explicitly as part of their national policy, or implicitly by making available a range of official financing tools intended to maximize the flow of national benefits."

 

To make matters worse, U.S. companies are going head-to-head with non-member OECD countries like India, China, Brazil, Pakistan, and Russia. Phil Cogan, a spokesperson for Ex-Im Bank, told IMT that this creates a "race to the bottom" when non-members offer terms on their export finance products that undercut other countries.

 

The Ex-Im Bank attempts to take the financing off the table, "so American companies can compete on the basis of the quality and innovation, the service after sale, the attributes that they're selling, rather than a low market stance," said Cogan.