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.

President Obama speaks in Racine, Wisc., today on the economy. We trust this Wall Street Journal editorial was on the top of his pile of pre-trip briefing materials this morning. From “The Bucyrus Travesty“:

The manager of a Milwaukee custard stand on Friday asked Joe Biden for lower taxes in return for dessert, and the Vice President told him not to be “a smartass.” Perhaps on his own visit to Wisconsin today, President Obama will have a better answer for the latest blue-collar casualties of his Administration’s anticarbon obsessions.

Last Thursday, the U.S. Export-Import Bank denied loan guarantees to Reliance Power Ltd., an Indian utility building a coal-fired power plant near Sasan, India. Bucyrus International Inc., a South Milwaukee-based manufacturer, was ready to export some $310 million in mining equipment—and about $600 million over three years—but Reliance’s order was contingent on the favorable financing rates provided by the Ex-Im guarantee. Reliance cancelled the order Monday morning and will reboot with Bucyrus’s competitors in China or Belarus if the bank doesn’t reverse in the coming days.

The Reliance-Bucyrus deal met all of the Export-Import Bank’s qualifying criteria, including the tougher environmental and CO2 standards that the White House has imposed over the last several months. But the bank nonetheless rejected the project in a 2-to-1 vote under pressure from the Treasury and State Departments. “We were absolutely flabbergasted and shocked,” Bucyrus CEO Tim Sullivan told us in an interview.

The National Association and other major business and international trade groups have written the National Economic Council and the National Security Council detailing serious problems with two bills to impose global sanctions in an effort to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons technology.

Worthy goal, but an overreaching and damaging approach. Excerpt from the letter:

The undersigned business organizations are profoundly concerned that current legislative proposals to expand U.S. sanctions on Iran (H.R. 2194 and S. 2799) would significantly undermine the U.S. national interest. While we agree that preventing Iran from developing the capability to produce nuclear weapons is an urgent U.S. national security objective, the unilateral, extraterritorial, and overly broad approach of these bills would undercut rather than advance this critical objective.

The proposed sanctions would incite economic, diplomatic, and legal conflicts with U.S. allies
and could frustrate joint action against Iran. They could prohibit any U.S. company from transacting routine business with critical partners from around the globe even if these transactions have no bearing on business with Iran. These provisions could encompass a very large portion of the global trade community with consequences that in our view have not been adequately assessed.

The proposals could have a large impact on the U.S. Export-Import Bank, precluding it from
partnering with counterpart agencies abroad to co-finance U.S. exports that have no relation to Iran’s energy sector. A significant portion of the bank’s portfolio could be impacted, compromising its ability to boost U.S. exports.

For links to the bills, click H.R. 2194 and S. 2799.

Other signers are the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable, National Foreign Trade Council, Emergency Committee for American Trade, USA*Engage, U.S. Council for International Business, and the Coalition for Employment through Exports.

See also Politico, Laura Rozen’s blog.

UPDATE (10:40 a.m.): Reuters also reports, “U.S. business groups warned the White House on Tuesday that congressional plans to expand U.S. sanctions on Iran threaten to significantly undermine U.S. economic and security interests.”

From The Washington Post, “Jobs summit underscores dilemma“:

Obama says he does not have the money for the plan many of his liberal supporters say packs the biggest employment punch — direct federal investment in job creation. Instead, he came close to embracing a to-do list for the private sector that sounded rather familiar: weatherization, small-business incentives, regulatory and other help for exporters, and tax credits for employers who hire new workers.

Obama said the proposals could create jobs immediately, while providing long-term benefit at a relatively small expense to the federal government. “Overall, we generated a lot of important ideas,” he said. “Some of them, I think, can translate immediately into administration plans and, potentially, legislation.”

Regulatory and other help for exporters? U.S. Export-Import Bank Chairman Fred Hochberg co-chaired one of the break-out sessions, “Expanding Job Opportunities for America’s Workers Through Exports,” and the NAM believes the Eximbank is an important, effective supporter of private-sector exporters. Indeed, the head of one company that works effectively with the Eximbank is quoted in the Post story. Air Tractor of Olney, Texas, a manufacturer of ag planes (for purposes like spraying and seeding), has been featured as an Eximbank success story as it reaches into South American markets. (PPT slide from Eximbank’s 2009 conference.)

David Ickert, a senior executive of Air Tractor, a Texas firm that manufactures planes used in agriculture and fire suppression, said he would like to see the administration do more to free up financing for export-oriented firms.

“Exporting is one of the areas that has a lot more potential,” he said. “It can create jobs and does not cost a lot of money to fund. There just has not been enough attention paid to it from a policy standpoint.

Right!

The lack of attention — or rather, effort — has also been a problem with the three free trade agreements still pending which, if enacted, would quickly lower trade barriers to U.S. exporters. The White House should lead its export-related jobs creation by demanding Congressional approval of the FTAs with Colombia, Panama and South Korea.

The testimony has been posted from yesterday’s Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing, “A World of Opportunity: Promoting Export Success for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses,” and the committee also has a nice selection of quotes here.

From Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), who chaired the hearing by the Subcommittee on Competitiveness, Innovation, and Export Promotion: “Exporting is literally a world of opportunity. Over 95 percent of the world’s customers are located outside the United States. Increasing our exports will mean more business, more jobs and more growth for the American economy.”

And from the manufacturer who testified, Tom J. Wollin, Director of International and Government Sales, Mattracks, Inc.,* of Karlstad, Minn.:

There are roadblocks for U.S. companies, big and small, when they export products internationally. Tariffs, duties, and value-added taxes can make the costs of U.S. products extremely prohibitive. For example, an American product that has a dealer cost of $35,000 when it leaves our shores can have a final cost reaching $60,000 to $70,000 when it reached its destination! U.S. innovation and product quality can overcome many obstacles, but a doubling in price can be crippling. The removal of these types of trade barriers are also needed to ensure new and continued sales growth internationally.

That’s a critical point. For all the many good and helpful government programs to promote manufacturing exports, sales must be cost-competitive. That’s why Congress’ resistance to enacting the pending free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea is so discouraging. By ratifying the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, for example, Congress could quickly lower costs of U.S. exports to that country by an average of 14 percent.

* A plug for Mattracks — What a great product! A “rubber-track conversion system [that ] transforms most 4×4 vehicles into a true all-terrain vehicle equipped with rubber tracks that will go almost anywhere and bring you back!”