What does the Ex-Im Bank have to do with Africa? Everything.

/ / By Erik Roos, Policy Analyst
This week’s U.S. Africa Leader’s Summit highlighted the importance of increasing the presence of U.S. businesses abroad and the need to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank this fall. One of the challenges U.S. businesses face in Africa is obtaining financing partners—commercial banks may be unwilling to take on that level of risk. The Ex-Im Bank provides insurance and loan guarantees, which reduce the risk for commercial banks and allow these transactions to take...
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Commerce Dept. Launches Program to Boost U.S. Exports

/ / Shumway Marshall, Digital Director
In an economic report released this week by the Department of Commerce, data shows that nearly one-third of the country’s economic growth since mid-2009 has been driven by exports. Nearly 30,000 businesses have started exporting for the first time. And most importantly, since 2009, the number of jobs supported by exports has grown by 1.6 million to more than 11.3 million – the highest in 20 years. Small businesses across the country are continuing to take advantage of new markets...
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Cameron Visit Highlights Ambitious Trade Agenda

/ / Nikhil Joshi, Research Director
All of the current trade deals in the G-8 pipeline are worth over $1 trillion in added global incomes, wrote British Prime Minister David Cameron in a Wall Street Journal op-ed this morning. Cameron is in Washington today to meet President Obama and highlight one of those deals, between the U.S. and E.U., which will be discussed during an April meeting of the G-8 in North Ireland. The White House is currently pursuing major trade initiatives that would bring down barriers to trade with our...
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