In consultation with SBA, instruments revised to better track what exports Ex-Im Bank is covering with its insurance policy and the extent to which its support assists U.S. small businesses.
table that charts list comparision
Inventory as of this Action
Requested
Previously Approved
10/31/2015
6 Months From Approved
11/30/2015
310
0
310
465
0
2,480
0
0
72,019
The Export Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) pursuant to the Export Import Bank Act of 1945, as amended (12 USC 635, et seq), facilitates the financing of exports of U.S. goods and services. By neutralizing the effect of export credit insurance and loan guarantees offered by foreign governments and by absorbing credit risks that the private sector will not accept, Ex-Im Bank enables U.S. exporters to compete fairly in foreign markets on the basis of price and product quality. This collection of information is necessary, pursuant to 12 USC Sec. 635 (a) (1), to determine eligibility of the applicant for Ex-Im Bank assistance.
The "Application for Exporter Short-term Single-buyer Insurance" form will be used by entities involved in the export of US goods and services, to provide Ex-Im Bank with the information necessary to obtain legislatively required assurance of repayment and fulfills other statutory requirements.
The Export-Import Bank has made a change to the report to have the applicant provide the number of employees or annual sales volume. That information is needed to determine whether or not they meet the SBA's definition of a small business. The applicant already provides their name, address and industry code (NAICS). These additional pieces of information will allow Ex-Im Bank to better track the extent to which its support assists U.S. small businesses.
The other change that Ex-Im Bank has made is to require the applicant to indicate whether it is a minority-owned business, women-owned business and/or veteran-owned business. Although answers to the questions are mandatory, the company may choose any one of the three answers: Yes/No/Decline to Answer. The option of "Decline to Answer" allows a company to consciously decline to answer the specific question should they not wish to provide that information.
Ex-Im Bank is requesting an emergency approval to add four questions to this form. This form is already approved and in use for any identified U.S. exporter or U.S. supplier as part of their financing application process with the Bank. The bank wishes to address promptly the Congressional mandate and concerns raised with respect to the Bankâs current practice of identifying and classifying small businesses, as well as minority-, woman-, and veteran-owned businesses.
Ex-Im Bank is under intense scrutiny from Congress as both the House and Senate consider whether to reauthorize the Ex-Im Bank for another five years. Ex-Im Bankâs current charter is due to expire on June 30, 2015. Failure to reauthorize Ex-Im Bank will mean that Ex-Im Bank will not be able to meet its mission of supporting U.S. jobs through financing U.S. exports. In FY14, Ex-Im Bank supported $27.5 billion in U.S. exports and more than 164,000 American jobs. A similar volume of exports and jobs would be affected if Ex-Im Bank were not reauthorized in June 2015.
Congress has a mandate in Ex-Im Bankâs charter that it must make available at least 20 percent of its financing for small businesses. As Congress evaluates the Administrationâs request to reauthorize Ex-Im Bank, it has been asking for information and data about Ex-Im Bank and the companies it supports. Recently, an article published by Reuters indicated that there were problems with Ex-Im Bankâs classification of some small business exporters. Consequently, various Members of Congress have been asking what Ex-Im Bank is doing to improve its data quality, particularly with regard to its identification of small business exporters. Some Members of Congress have called into question whether they are willing to support Ex-Im Bankâs reauthorization in light of the Bankâs perceived âinabilityâ to correctly identify its small business customers, including minority-, woman-, and veteran-owned business. Ex-Im Bank needs to demonstrate that it is quickly addressing the small business classification concern or run the risk that a number of Members of Congress will vote against Ex-Im Bankâs reauthorization, thus throwing into question the extent to which $27.5 billion in exports will occur in the following year.
Ex-Im Bank must ensure that it has all the necessary information to determine whether or not a specific customer meets the SBA guidelines for being designated as a small business. Ex-Im Bank is not changing the methodology for determining if a company is a small business, rather it is requesting sufficient information directly from customers to make an independent determination that a particular business meets the SBA guidelines.
Ex-Im Bankâs practice to date for gathering small business classification information is to rely on Dun & Bradstreet for these data points â company ownership (parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries), NAICS industry code, number of employees and annual sales volume as well as for woman-owned and minority-owned. Unfortunately, the quality of D&Bâs data on these points has not been sufficient. The only way Ex-Im Bank can ensure that it is making an accurate determination is to ask the customer to provide this information. Thus, the change for which Ex-Im Bank is requesting an emergency clearance is to add the four additional questions to this application form for any identified U.S. exporter or U.S. supplier.
Lack of an emergency approval of this form would limit Ex-Im Bankâs ability to quickly address Congressional concerns with identifying and classifying small businesses. This would adversely impact Ex-Im Bankâs reputation on the Hill and could result in Ex-Im Bank not being reauthorized â thus threatening future export sales and jobs. Accordingly, Ex-Im Bank requests emergency approval.
The reduction in the estimated public burden is due to the following factors: 1) a larger number of customers using electronic means of applying, 2) the use of the recent experience with the user time expenditure, 3) correction of the misattribution of the estimated federal costs to the public burden.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Form EIB 92-64 Application for Exporter Short-Term Single-Buyer Insurance
Supporting Statement EIB 92-64 03-03-2015.doc
Application for Exporter Short-Term Single-Buyer Insurance