Export-Import Bank of the United States

Export-Import Bank of the United States, independent agency of the federal government, known as Ex-Im Bank. It was created in 1934 as the Export-Import Bank of Washington, a District of Columbia banking corporation, and was made an independent government corporation by an act of Congress in 1945. The name was changed to its present form in 1968. Ex-Im Bank is empowered to aid in financing and facilitating exports and imports and the exchange of commodities between the United States or its territories or possessions and any foreign country. The 1945 act explicitly states that Congress intends the bank to supplement and not to compete with private capital and that loans should be for specific purposes and offer reasonable assurance of repayment. The bank is authorized to have capital stock of $1 billion and may have loans, guarantees, and insurance aggregating up to $40 billion outstanding at any one time. Ex-Im Bank is managed by a bipartisan board of five directors appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate.

Ex-Im Bank has initiated various programs designed to broaden the credit opportunities of U.S. industry. It provides a direct-lending program to aid in large sales of U.S. products around the world. It also makes available insurance and financial guarantees to assist exporters dealing with smaller sales of products and services. Ex-Im Bank has assisted in financing sales to foreign buyers of a wide range of American equipment, including fertilizer plants, bridges, jet aircraft, and locomotives.