Global Insider: Export-Import Bank of the United States

The U.S. Export-Import Bank recently approved a nearly $3 billion loan guarantee to a Colombian oil refinery, one of many recent moves by the bank. In an email interview, Gary Hufbauer, Reginald Jones Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, discussed the operations of the U.S. Export-Import Bank.

WPR: What is the core mission of the U.S. Export-Import Bank and what are its principal activities?

Gary Hufbauer: The core mission of the U.S. Export-Import Bank should be to promote U.S. exports of goods and services in circumstances where financing conditions make a difference. The bank carries out its mission by providing direct credits to U.S. suppliers and foreign buyers and by guaranteeing bank loans that finance export transactions. In what circumstances is support by the Export-Import Bank likely to make a difference? In my opinion, these are transactions that exhibit one or more of the following characteristics: first, expensive capital goods, such as airplanes or power plants, that have useful lives of a decade or more, and require financing to match their useful lives; second, export sales to unstable countries that have a record of abrupt change in government or economic policy; third, export sales of services such as utility management or educational testing or large construction projects; and fourth, circumstances where a U.S. exporter is competing with a subsidized third-country exporter.

Keep reading for free!

Get instant access to the rest of this article by submitting your email address below. You'll also get access to three articles of your choice each month and our free newsletter:

Or, Subscribe now to get full access.

Already a subscriber? Log in here .

What you’ll get with an All-Access subscription to World Politics Review:

A WPR subscription is like no other resource — it’s like having a personal curator and expert analyst of global affairs news. Subscribe now, and you’ll get:

  • Immediate and instant access to the full searchable library of tens of thousands of articles.
  • Daily articles with original analysis, written by leading topic experts, delivered to you every weekday.
  • Regular in-depth articles with deep dives into important issues and countries.
  • The Daily Review email, with our take on the day’s most important news, the latest WPR analysis, what’s on our radar, and more.
  • The Weekly Review email, with quick summaries of the week’s most important coverage, and what’s to come.
  • Completely ad-free reading.

And all of this is available to you when you subscribe today.

More World Politics Review