This morning National Association of Manufacturers President and CEO Jay Timmons, Vice President for International Economic Affairs Frank Vargo, National Small Business Association President Todd McCracken, Marlin Steel Wire Products President and NAM Board Member Drew Greenblatt and Patton Electronics President and CEO Bobby Patton sat down with reporters to discuss importance of the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank.

NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons speaks to reporters along with Patton Electronics President and CEO Bobby Patton, Marlin Steel Wire Products President Drew Greenblatt and National Small Business Association President Todd McCracken.

As we’ve mentioned before on this blog the Ex-Im Bank’s charter is set to expire at the end of May leaving much uncertainty for small manufacturers all over the country that use the Bank’s services. “Our competition is not standing still and we can’t either,” said NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons. Our main competitors provide one trillion dollars in export financing assistance per year compared to just $32 billion for the U.S.

Many manufacturers are already seeing the impact and the chill from the uncertainty surrounding the reauthorization, the Reuters story, “US manufacturers press Congress on EximBank renewal” cites Drew Greenblatt from Marlin Steel Wire:

Drew Greenblatt, president of Marlin, a steel wire manufacturer in Baltimore, said he already felt a “chilling effect” on his export sales because of the possibility that Exim could have to stop making loans in four to five weeks.

If Exim financing is not available to match terms provided by other state agencies, customers are “just going to stop talking to me and buy from Germany,” Greenblatt said.

It’s important that members of Congress understand the need to act on the reauthorization as soon as possible and not wait until the last possible minute which will put our competitiveness at risk and give the competition a leg up. From the Dow Jones story, “Business Groups Urge Congress To Act On Ex-Im Bank, See Risk of March Cap Hit” which cites NSBA President Todd McCracken:

“Even if they’re only cut off for a few weeks or month from the export financing they need, they may lose their customer for a generation or even permanently as a result of that, which could affect jobs and economic growth for the foreseeable future,” said Todd McCracken, president of the nonprofit organization representing small businesses. “We think this is a very significant threat to exporters and our economy right now, the indecision we face around the Export-Import bank.”

NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons appeared on the Don & Roma radio show on WLS 890 in Chicago today to discuss the promise of manufacturing and the multiplier effect of creating manufacturing jobs.

During the conversation, Mr. Timmons focused extensively on the need to eliminate the 20% cost disadvantage that manufacturers in the U.S. face compared to their global competitors. He highlighted the burdensome tax system in the U.S., flawed energy policy, and regulatory issues that have a distorting effect on our economy.

Additionally, Mr. Timmons spoke extensively on the need to reauthorize and strengthen the Export-Import Bank, which assists in financing the export of U.S. goods and services from thousands of American companies. It’s a vital tool for exports and job creation. Other nations are vigorously supporting their export industries and Mr. Timmons commented on the pertinent question, “Why should the U.S. not be able to get a share of that? We need to compete on the same level that our competitors are.”

On Friday President Obama spoke at the Boeing Company’s facility in Everett, WA and called on Congress to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank of the United States. The President also rolled out several new initiatives to help companies grow exports.

The Ex-Im Bank plays an important role in our country’s ability to export. Thousands of small businesses all over the country benefit from the Bank, last year the Bank supported $41 billion in exports from 3600 companies, which supports tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs.

If Congress fails to reauthorize the Bank our competition will simply pass us by. We already trail many of our competitors by a large margin. Germany, France and India all provided at least seven times more export assistance as a share of GDP than the U.S. in 2010. If we don’t reauthorize Ex-Im and increase the current lending limit we simply won’t reach the goal of doubling exports by 2014 and jobs will be hurt.

It’s just not President Obama calling for the Banks reauthorization, in the past week a few conservative commentators have called for the Banks’s reauthorization.

Just today conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt wrote a column for on the WashingtonExaminer.com titled “Right Should Support Export-Import Bank” stating that the Bank should be reauthorized as an enterprise the federal government ought to be doing and does well:

For nearly 80 years, Ex-Im has been contributing to that originalist policy, and it would be a terrible triumph of an absolutist ideological tilt to strike even partially at one of the things the federal government not only ought to be doing, but which it has been doing and doing well under both Republicans and Democrats.

Hewitt continues on the success of Ex-Im:

Ex-Im is a success, one which conservatives can support proudly and from which they can draw lessons on the right functioning of the federal power with which to argue against the abuses and distortions of that power.

And last week on Townhall.com George Landrith, president of Frontiers of Freedom, in a post titled “A Conservative’s take on the Ex-Im Bank” he talks about the benefits of the Bank and how doesn’t cost the taxpayers a dime:

The Ex-Im Bank does not compete with private financial institutions, but rather fills-in banking gaps so that U.S. goods can be exported to nations where commercial financing is insufficient. The Ex-Im Bank doesn’t cost taxpayers a dime. Rather, it makes money from the fees charged to foreign buyers which get pumped back into the U.S. Treasury and helps reduce the deficit. 

The Ex-Im Bank has a 75 year track-record and the Congressional Budget Office projects in the coming years, the Ex-Im Bank will pump $900 million into the U.S. Treasury – not to mention the hundreds of billions of dollars of U.S. made goods that will be exported and the hundreds of thousands of American jobs that will be supported. In 2011 alone, the bank facilitated sales abroad that supported 290,000 American jobs.

Landrith refutes the argument from critics that the Ex-Im Bank is government interference in the private sector or picking winners and losers

Virtually every other nation offers export loan assistance. In fact, China and many other nations actually offer aggressive, below market loans to induce foreign buyers to purchase their goods. When the U.S. competes on quality and price, it wins the competition. That is precisely why nations like China intervene and offer cut rate financing with very generous terms so that they can undercut U.S. firms. Europe does this as well.

As a conservative, I would like to see free markets expanded. We should enter into more free market reform agreements with our trading partners. We should reform our tax code and our regulatory regime to ensure we are competitive.

But nixing the Ex-Im Bank now without international financing reform agreements does nothing to promote free markets. It merely undermines U.S. manufacturing, kills high-paying American jobs, and erodes our ability to compete in a worldwide marketplace

We urge Congress to reauthorize the Bank and increase its lending limit as soon as possible, without the Bank we will be left behind by our competition and manufacturers across the country will suffer the consequences.

We urge Congress to reauthorize the Bank and increase its lending limit as soon as possible, without the Bank we will be left behind by our competition and manufacturers across the country will suffer the consequences.

One of the big success stories in the trade world for 2011, other than passage of the FTAs, was success of the Export-Import Bank’s Global Access for Small Business program. Last year the Ex-Im Bank approved $6 billion in small business financing through this helpful new program which is supported by the National Association of Manufacturers.

It’s a little known fact that more than 85 percent of all the Bank’s transactions directly benefit small business exporters.

As you can see export financing is paramount to the ability of manufacturers to export and in turn grow jobs and invest. We have to remember that 95 percent of the world’s consumers are outside of the U.S. and our manufacturers need the tools to reach them, if not we will be eclipsed by our overseas competition.

The NAM is urging Congress to act as soon as possible to reauthorize the Ex-Im Bank and to increase the Bank’s lending capacity. If we are going to meet the goal of doubling exports by 2014 an improved Ex-Im Bank is going to play an important role and we can’t afford to wait to act until the temporary authorization expires.

Manufacturers are constantly planning for the future several months and years in advance which is why a multi-year extension is needed. 

Ex-Im Bank Chairman Fred Hochberg is also pushing for Congress to move quickly as CQ reported earlier this week.

In an interview, Ex-Im Bank Chairman Fred Hochberg said Congress needs to quickly assure businesses and foreign customers that it will have more financing authority. Hochberg called legislation to raise the bank’s lending limit a “jobs bill.”

Reauthorizing Ex-Im means more exports which translates to more jobs for American workers. We are hopeful Congress can come together to move forward soon before we lose out to the competition.

One story we haven’t heard much about so far this year is that of the Export-Import Bank. The Bank’s charter expired at the end of 2011 and it’s currently working off a temporary extension which is far from adequate.

Ex-Im plays an important role in manufacturers’ ability to export. If the Bank isn’t reauthorized the ripple effect will spread all the way down the supply chain to even the smallest companies.

Manufacturers are urging Congress to act now to reauthorize the Bank. Ex-Im will have to play an important role if we are going to meet the President’s goal of doubling exports by 2014. Reauthorization should be an easy decision for Congress as it doesn’t come with a large price tag, the Bank is funded through fees on its loans.

Loren Thompson a contributor for Forbes tells the story of Ex-Im in a recent column. Below is an excerpt. It’s time for Congress to move forward with reauthorization before we lose out to our competitors.

“The other, more recent, reason why the government needs to help U.S. exporters with financing is that other countries have greatly expanded their own financial assistance to exporters.  For instance, as a percentage of GDP, China extends 17 times more credit assistance to its exporters than America does, and other emerging countries like Brazil and India are not far behind.”

Every single day, manufacturers in the U.S. are up against a wide range of competitors in the global marketplace. Many of these overseas competitors, using significant government support, are aggressively pursuing a global competitive advantage and the jobs that go with it. As a result, the playing field is tilted against us and we are losing jobs. 

One of the most important tools we have to offset this disadvantage and grow exports and jobs is the U.S. Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im), and we strongly urge Congress to reauthorize the Bank without delay.  And – get this – the bank makes money for U.S. taxpayers.  Of all the job stimulus programs, the Ex-Im Bank doesn’t cost the taxpayer a dime. Congress should vote as soon as possible to reauthorize Ex-Im.

For the U.S. to grow manufacturing jobs, we must rely on exports to faster-growing markets around the world. In short, exports equal jobs. And unfortunately for our jobs outlook, the United States is falling behind its competitors on the export front. In 2000, the U.S. share of global exports of manufactured goods was 13.8 percent. By 2009, our share had fallen to 8.6 percent. If we had just maintained our market share, U.S. exports in 2009 would have been $435 billion higher. The Commerce Department estimates that every $1 billion increase in exports would create or support 6,250 additional jobs, so that $435 billion jump translates to more than 2.7 million jobs.

One reason that the U.S. is losing valuable market share is that other countries do a better job of securing market access and providing support to their exporters – including financial support. While the United States is still the world’s largest manufacturer, we lack the export drive of our major competitors. In fact, the United States exports less than half as much of its manufacturing output as the global average. (continue reading…)

Two U.S. manufacturers testified today about the significance of exports to manufacturing growth and the important role of the Ex-Im Bank. The hearing, titled “Stakeholder Perspectives on Reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank of the United States,” was held by the Senate Banking Committee’s Subcommittee on Security and International Trade and Finance. The Ex-Im Bank will need to be reauthorized by Congress before its current authorization expires on Sept. 30, 2011.

Noteworthy testimony from the hearing came fom David Ickert, Vice President of Air Tractor Inc., who described how export growth correlated directly with the company’s employment increases. At the end of 2007, Air Tractor had 165 employees and 36 percent of its sales were export sales. In 2010, the company had 220 employees and export sales accounted for 56 percent of sales volume. Air Tractor has used Ex-Im’s medium term credit insurance to secure more than 80 export sales since 1995, and the company expects to complete 30 such deals in 2011. From Ickert’s testimony:

“The growth of exports has been a significant contributor to the job growth of Air Tractor in recent years. The growth of exports at Air Tractor is a direct result of Ex-Im having programs such as the Medium Term Credit Insurance program that we could access to provide financing for our end user customers outside of the United States.” (continue reading…)

From the White House’s weekly schedule for President Obama, posted by Lynn Sweet of The Chicago Sun-Times:

[The] President will travel to Schenectady, New York to visit the birthplace of General Electric. The site is home to GE’s largest energy division, including steam turbines, generators, wind and solar, and the future home of GE’s advanced battery manufacturing facility. The President will tour the site with GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt and he will make remarks on the importance of growing the economy and making America more competitive by investing in jobs, innovation and clean energy. The GE plant in Schenectady is a direct beneficiary of GE’s power turbine deal with India announced during the President’s trip last November.

The President’s visit was rescheduled from last week after the shootings in Tuscon.

We’re glad to see the White House emphasize corporate involvement in India, the kind of global investment that creates wealth and jobs in the United States. From GE’s news release, Oct. 25, 2010, “GE Wins Largest Gas Turbine Combined-Cycle Order in India“:

SAMALKOT, India–25 October 2010– Reliance Power Ltd. of India has selected GE’s (NYSE: GE) flexible, efficient power generation technology for a 2,400-megawatt expansion of the Samalkot power plant in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. This will represent the largest gas turbine combined-cycle project in India’s history and will help the country meet its continuing demand for reliable electricity to support its rapidly growing economy.

Under contracts totaling over $750 million, GE will supply six Frame 9FA gas turbines, three D-11 steam turbines, training and long-term services for the project. GE’s 9FA combined-cycle technology is proven in applications worldwide. In a combined-cycle configuration, exhaust gas from a gas turbine-generator is converted to steam, which is used to drive a steam turbine-generator, enabling the plant to produce additional power without an increase in fuel consumption. The new plant is expected to enter simple-cycle (gas turbines only) service in the first half of 2012 and combined-cycle (gas and steam turbines) in the second half of that year.

See also GE, “October Deal Tally in India Tops $1.4 Billion with Turbine Order.”

Commerce Secretary Locke on Friday announced a high-tech trade mission to India for February, with manufacturers a major presence.

Twenty-four U.S. businesses will join Commerce Secretary Gary Locke for a business development mission to India on February 6-11.  The businesses joining the trade mission are based in 13 states across the country and more than half of them are small- and medium-sized companies.

The delegation, which also includes senior officials from the Export-Import Bank (EX-IM) and the Trade Development Agency (TDA), will make stops in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, where Locke will highlight export opportunities for U.S. businesses in the advanced industrial sectors, of civil-nuclear trade, defense and security, civil aviation, and information and communication technologies. Locke accompanied President Obama to India in November, where they witnessed more than $10 billion in business deals between U.S. companies and Indian private sector and government entities, supporting 50,000 American jobs.

“Exports are leading the U.S. economic recovery, spurring future economic growth and creating jobs in America,” Locke said. “The business leaders joining me on this mission see the great potential to sell their goods and services to India, helping drive innovation and create jobs in both countries.”

Secretary Locke met last week with India’s ambassador to the United States, Meera Shankar.

Jay Timmons, executive vice president of the National Association of Manufacturers, joined Commerce Secretary Locke, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, SBA Administrator Karen Mills and Tom Donohue of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Thursday in support of a new Export-Import Bank program that will provide market and financial support for smaller manufacturers, the Global Access for Small Business initiative. From the news release:

WASHINGTON, Jan. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Today, the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) announced its Global Access for Small Business (Global Access) initiative, which will help more than 5,000 small companies export goods and services produced by U.S. workers. As an integral part of President Obama’s National Export Initiative (NEI) mission to double U.S. exports by 2015, Global Access is being supported by a wide variety of business, financial and government partners.

“For our economy to grow, we need more American small businesses to become exporters,” stated Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg. “The demand exists for their products and services, but many companies are wary of international sales. Global Access provides financing tools to minimize the risk of exporting so more American small businesses can grow their companies and create new jobs.”…

The other leading private-sector partner for Global Access is the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the nation’s largest manufacturing association. NAM has been a stalwart champion of increased U.S. exports and has built a strong relationship with Ex-Im Bank. “Exports are critical to the ability of manufacturers in America to succeed in a competitive world marketplace, grow and create jobs,” said Jay Timmons, executive vice president and incoming president of NAM. “Manufacturers account for two-thirds of U.S. exports of goods and services. The Global Access initiative provides the type of trade finance called for in the NAM’s ‘Blueprint to Double Exports in Five Years.’ It will enable more small and medium-sized manufacturers to begin or expand foreign sales – and lead to more jobs here at home.”

We’ve put a transcript of our soon-to-be NAM President Timmons’ remarks in the extended entry. Here’s the news coverage:

• The Hill, “Export bank unveils new small business initiative“
• National Public Radio, “Small Businesses Urged To Help U.S. Double Exports“
• Dow Jones, “US Export-Import Bank To Increase Small-Business Loans To $6 Billion“

Jay Timmons remarks below: (continue reading…)

America’s manufacturers need aggressive support from the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im), and under its chairman, Fred Hochberg, we are increasingly getting just that. Today’s Financial Times reports that Ex-Im is going to match China’s rules-busting offer to finance locomotives to Pakistan. China doesn’t follow the export financing rules agreed by major exporters (the OECD credit guidelines), even though it is now the world’s largest exporter. Instead, it uses its non-membership in this agreement to undercut others’ exports.

Ex-Im’s decision to provide matching U.S. financing for American locomotive manufacturers is extremely important in showing that the United States will not sit by and allow China to flout the rules. It is also important in that it shows Chairman Hochberg’s willingness to move quickly and decisively to support American exports more generally.

China, which gains so much from its undervalued currency, must not be allowed to compound that by providing subsidized financing to further tilt the playing field. It would be much better for China to announce it recognizes its global responsibility and that it will join in following the same rules as other major players. But as long as it doesn’t, Ex-Im needs to continue matching China in every transaction possible.