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January 17, 2008
Contact:
Steven A. Thiry
703-827-5251
sthiry@AMTonline.org
AMT urges support for Ex-Im Bank efforts to boost U.S. exports
America’s manufacturing technology equipment suppliers need support from the Export-Import Bank of the United States in order to secure export orders that will keep their companies alive and safeguard jobs in the United States. That message was delivered in testimony today before the House Committee on Small Business by Steven A. Thiry, Vice President-Business Development for AMT-The Association For Manufacturing Technology. The association’s nearly 400 members all manufacture products in the U.S.
“Increasingly, the ability to compete in the global markets is determined by factors beyond the products offered and the manufacturer’s ability to service and support those products at the customer’s point of use,” he said. Foreign competitors can often obtain government subsidized financing that substantially improves their competitive position. That means foreign buyers “often must pay substantially greater credit insurance and interest rates and undergo a difficult and uncertain application process in order to acquire American technology,” Thiry added.
He urged that Congress assure that the Ex-Im Bank have adequate staffing and funding to work with U.S. firms. He noted that speed is of the essence in today’s global marketplace, and that “an application process that exceeds the time allotted by the buyer… effectively eliminates” the American exporter. Providing delegated authority for medium-term loans to qualified lending institutions “offers tremendous potential for improvement,” he said.
Finally, current U.S. content requirements should be reviewed. As customers in export markets seek to reduce the number of vendors and orders they transact, American exporters are often forced to bundle their U.S. made products with foreign made goods. “When financing support is offered only in proportion to American content, it puts the American exporter at a substantial disadvantage to foreign competition who can and will finance the entire project,” Thiry said. “The ultimate effect of this proportional support is the reduction of the sale of U.S. produced product.”
AMT (founded in 1902 as the National Machine Tool Builders’ Association) supports and promotes the U.S. machine tool industry. The association provides U.S. builders of manufacturing systems with the latest information on technical developments, trade and marketing opportunities, and economic issues. It also gathers and disseminates information about world markets, promotes its members’ products in those markets, and acts as a representative on manufacturing technology matters to governments and trade organizations throughout the world.
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