EIB 00-02 EXIM Exporter and Lender Survey_2017

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 3048-004. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to be 90 minutes per response, including the time spent to review instructions, search existing data resources, gather the data needed, and complete and review the information collection. If you have any comments concerning the accuracy of the time estimate(s) or suggestions for improving this form, forward correspondence to Ex- Im Bank and the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project, OMB # 3048-004 Washington, D.C. 20503.

Introduction

The Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 (as amended) directs EXIM to report annually to the U.S. Congress on any actions taken toward providing export credit programs that are competitive with those offered by official foreign export credit agencies.

The Report measures competitiveness through a series of comparisons which draw on quantitative information about the programs and policies of the major foreign export credit agencies. For instance, the report evaluates EXIM’s competitiveness on the core financing elements of official export credit support: interest rates, risk premia, and risk taking. In addition, EXIM provides a comparative assessment of how well the financing elements are packaged into major programs: aircraft, project finance, co-financing, environmental exports, and services exports. Finally, EXIM evaluates noteworthy public policy considerations that affect EXIM’s services and therefore have the potential to impact U.S. exporter competitiveness: economic impact, content, and shipping polices.

As part of this report, Congress requires EXIM to conduct a survey of users of our programs to gain insights into EXIM's real-world utility and competitiveness. Your views are essential in understanding how EXIM can support the success of American businesses in the international marketplace. Your participation is also very critical in obtaining a representative and valid sample of EXIM Bank users and substantiating the Bank’s true performance.

Instructions

One response per company.

Please respond to all questions based on the company’s experience in calendar year 2015 most recent experiences.

If your company engaged EXIM for more than one transaction, please respond with your average experience and use the general comments area in each section to discuss how a specific deal differed (e.g., your company’s experience with the long- term loan program compared to the medium-term insurance program).

Questions that require a response are marked with an asterisk (*).

Contact Information

• ^{1. Name}

2. Title

2. Phone

2. E-mail

• ^{5. Company}

Company Information

• ^{6. What EXIM programs(s) did your company utilize or apply for? This includes transactions awaiting EXIM approval. (choose all that apply)}

Long-term guarantee Long-term loan

Medium-term guarantee Medium-term insurance

Medium-term loan Short-term insurance Working capital

Company did no business with EXIM due to lack of quorum or other reasons

• ^{7. Is your company an exporter, a lender, or a project sponsor? (choose all that apply)}

Exporter Lender

Project Sponsor

Other (please specify)

Supplier Information

8. How many suppliers did your company use to execute export contracts?

None 1 - 25

26 - 50

51 - 75

76 - 100

100+

Don't know

8. How many employees did your supplier(s) employ?

Under 500

500 - 1,000

1,000 - 10,000

10,000+

Don't know Not applicable

Foreign ECA Experience

• ^{10. Did your company work on a transaction with another Export Credit Agency (ECA) besides EXIM? (i.e.} did another ECA finance the export of your company's product or guarantee a loan from your bank).

Yes No

Foreign ECA Experience (continued)

11. With which foreign ECAs did your company do business? (choose all that apply)

BNDES (Brazil) CESCE (Spain)

COFACE/Bpifrance (France)

UKEF ECGD (United Kingdom) EDC (Canada)

EulerHermes (Germany)

Finnvera (Finland) GIEK/ECN (Norway) JBIC/NEXI (Japan) KSURE/KEXIM (Korea)

SACE (Italy)

Sinosure/China Exim (China)

Other (please specify)

11. Overall, how would you compare EXIM to other ECAs?

EXIM is far less competitive EXIM is slightly less competitive EXIM is equally competitive

EXIM is slightly more competitive EXIM is much more competitive Don't know

Foreign ECA Experience (continued)

11. Do you work with another ECAs' headquarters, satellite offices, or both?

Headquarters Satellite

Both

Don't know

11. How did EXIM's response time to routine calls and inquiries compare with that of other ECAs?

EXIM had much slower response time EXIM had slightly slower response time EXIM had equal response time

EXIM had slightly faster response time EXIM had much faster response time Don't know

11. How did EXIM’s ease of doing business impact EXIM’s competitiveness with other ECA's?

Made EXIM far less competitive Made EXIM slightly less competitive Made EXIM equally competitive Made EXIM slightly more competitive Made EXIM much more competitive Don't know

11. Please provide general comments on your company’s experience with foreign ECAs.

Direct ECA Competition

• ^{17. Did you work on a transaction where a buyer chose between two suppliers who were each supported} by an export credit agency?

Yes No

Direct ECA Competition (continued)

18. Did the buyer choose the supplier supported by U.S. EXIM or the foreign ECA?

U.S. EXIM supported company Foreign ECA supported company

18. What was the main factor in the buyer's decision?

Non-ECA related factor Interest rate

Exposure fee Tenor

Speed of doing business Shipping policy Environmental policy Foreign content policy Economic impact policy

Other (please specify)

Aircraft

* ^{20. Did your company utilize EXIM to finance aircraft?}

Yes No

Aircraft (continued)

21. Overall, how did EXIM's support for aircraft transactions compare with that offered by other ECAs?

EXIM is far less competitive EXIM is slightly less competitive EXIM is equally competitive

EXIM is slightly more competitive EXIM is much more competitive Don't know

21. Please provide general comments on your company’s experience with EXIM's aircraft financing.

Project and Structured Finance

Project finance: The financing of an asset (or “project”) whereby the lender relies purely on the underlying cash flows being generated by the asset as the sole source of repayment for the loan.

Structured finance: Financing relies on the underlying project’s revenues to ensure against the risk of non-payment, but is not the sole source of repayment.

• ^{23. Did your company utilize EXIM for project or structured finance deals?}

Yes No

Project and Structured Finance (continued)

24. Overall, how did EXIM's support for project finance or structured finance transactions compare with that offered by other ECAs?

EXIM is far less competitive EXIM is slightly less competitive EXIM is equally competitive

EXIM is slightly more competitive EXIM is much more competitive Don't know

24. Specifically, how did EXIM's support for project or structured finance transactions compare with that offered by each of the following ECAs?

EXIM is far less competitive

EXIM is slightly less competitive

EXIM is equally competitive

EXIM is slightly more competitive

EXIM is much more

competitive Don't know

BNDES (Brazil) COFACE/Bpifrance (France) UKEFECGD (United Kingdom) EDC (Canada)

EulerHermes (Germany) JBIC/NEXI (Japan) KSURE/KEXIM (Korea)

SACE (Italy)

Sinosure/China Exim (China)

Other (please specify)

24. Please provide general comments on your company’s experience with EXIM's project or structured finance program.

Cover Policy

Cover policy : The extent to which an ECA is open for business in a country across tenors and buyer types. It should represent an ECA’s general attitude about a country.

24. How did EXIM's country cover policy compare with that of other ECAs?

EXIM is far less competitive EXIM is slightly less competitive EXIM is equally competitive

EXIM is slightly more competitive EXIM is much more competitive Don't know

24. For each of the following aspects, how did EXIM’s cover policy compare with that of other ECAs?

EXIM is far less competitive

EXIM is slightly less competitive

EXIM is equally competitive

EXIM is slightly more competitive

EXIM is much more

competitive Don't know

Availability of cover by market

Use of country exposure limits

24. Please provide general comments on your company’s experience with EXIM's cover policy.

Risk Taking

Non-sovereign entities: Public or private entities that do not carry the full faith and credit of a sovereign state.

Risk taking: The extent to which an ECA is willing to provide export credit support in a market.

Sovereign entities: Entities that are explicitly and legally mandated to enter into a debt payment obligation on behalf of a sovereign state, typically the ministry of finance or central bank.

24. How did other ECAs willingness to take risk taking compare with EXIM?

EXIM is less willing to take risk EXIM is the same

EXIM is more willing to take risk Don't know

24. For each of the following types of buyers, how did other ECAs’ risk appetite compare with that of other EXIM?

EXIM is less willing to

take risk EXIM is the same

EXIM is more willing to

take risk Don't know

Sovereign buyers

Public non-sovereign buyers

Corporate buyers

24. Please provide general comments on your company’s experience with EXIM's approach to risk taking.

Interest Rates

Commercial Interest Reference Rate (CIRR): The official fixed interest rate offered under EXIM’s direct loan program.

Floating interest rate : The interest rate offered by banks using EXIM’s guarantee program.

Interest rates: Either the fixed rate CIRR for direct loans as established by the OECD rules on export credits or floating rates charged by guaranteed or insured lenders.

24. For each of the following types of interest rates, how did EXIM’s interest rates compare with those of other ECAs?

EXIM’s rates are lower

EXIM’s rates are the

same EXIM’s rates are higher Don't know

CIRR-based fixed interest rates

Floating interest rates

24. Compared to EXIM, when do other ECAs set the interest rate?

Earlier in the process than EXIM Same time in the process than EXIM Later in the process than EXIM

Don’t know

24. Compared to EXIM, how long do other ECAs set the interest rate?

Shorter amount of time than EXIM Same amount of time as EXIM Longer amount of time than EXIM Don't know

24. What interest rate flexibilities do other ECAs offer that EXIM does not?

24. Please provide general comments on your company’s experience with EXIM's approach to interest rates.

Exposure Fees

Exposure fees (or risk premia) : Fees that cover the risk of nonpayment for a transaction.

24. Overall, how did EXIM's exposure fees compare with those offered by other ECAs?

EXIM’s fees are lower EXIM’s fees are the same EXIM’s fees are higher Don’t know

24. What was your company exposure fee payment method? (choose all that apply)

Upfront As drawn

Don't know

24. Did EXIM’s method of collecting upfront exposure fees pose any competitive implications for your company’s ability to finance transactions through EXIM?

Yes No

Don't know Not applicable

24. Did your company benefit from EXIM’s exposure fee financing?

Yes No

Don't know

24. Please provide general comments on your company’s experience with EXIM's exposure fee.

Environmental Review

Environmental review: A review of the environmental impacts of a project pursuant to Ex-Im Bank’s Environmental Procedures and Guidelines.

• ^{43. Did your company have experience with EXIM's environmental review?}

Yes No

Don't know

Environmental Review (continued)

44. How did EXIM's environmental review compare with that required by other ECAs?

EXIM is far less competitive EXIM is slightly less competitive EXIM is equally competitive

EXIM is slightly more competitive EXIM is much more competitive Don't know

44. Please provide general comments on your company’s experience with EXIM's environmental review.

Environmentally Beneficial Exports

Environmentally beneficial exports: Exports qualifying for enhanced support under Ex-Im Bank's Environmental Export Program (e.g., renewable energy and water exports).

• ^{46. Did your company have experience with EXIM's environmentally beneficial exports program?}

Yes No

Don't know

Environmentally Beneficial Exports (continued)

47. For the following aspects, how did EXIM’s environmentally beneficial exports program compare with similar programs of other ECAs?

EXIM is far less competitive

EXIM is slightly less competitive

EXIM is equally competitive

EXIM is slightly more competitive

EXIM is much more

competitive Don't know

Renewable energy extended terms

Renewable express program

Premia amount

Premia payment method

Support of energy efficient exports

47. Please provide general comments on your company’s experience with EXIM’s environmentally beneficial exports program.

Services

Services: Economic output that is intangible in nature and that is generally produced and consumed at the same time.

• ^{49. Did your company have experience with EXIM's financing of services?}

Yes No

Don't know

Services (continued)

50. How did EXIM's support for services compare with that offered by other ECAs?

EXIM is far less competitive EXIM is slightly less competitive EXIM is equally competitive

EXIM is slightly more competitive EXIM is much more competitive Don't know

50. Please provide general comments on your company’s experience with EXIM's policies towards services.

Co-Financing

Co-financing (also referred to as “reinsurance” and “one-stop-shop”) : Financing arrangements that allow an exporter to market a single ECA financing package to a buyer interested in procuring goods and services from two (or more) countries.

• ^{52. Did your company have experience with EXIM's co-financing program?}

Yes No

Don't know

Co-Financing (continued)

53. How did EXIM’s co-financing program compare with that of other ECAs?

EXIM is far less competitive EXIM is slightly less competitive EXIM is equally competitive

EXIM is slightly more competitive EXIM is much more competitive Don't know

53. Please provide general comments on your company’s experience with EXIM's co-financing program.

Local Costs

Local costs: Project-related costs for goods and services originated and incurred in the buyer's country.

• ^{55. Did any of your company's transactions benefit from local cost financing?}

Yes No

Don't know

Local Costs (continued)

56. Please identify the nature of the local costs used by your company. (choose all that apply)

Inland freight and transportation Taxes

Local construction, labor and installation Deliveries from local subsidiaries and/or affiliates Other (please specify)

56. Did EXIM’s local cost policy affect your company’s sourcing decisions?

Yes No

Don't know

56. How does EXIM's local cost policy compare to other ECAs?

EXIM is far less competitive EXIM is slightly less competitive EXIM is equally competitive

EXIM is slightly more competitive EXIM is much more competitive Don't know

56. Please provide general comments on your company’s experience with EXIM local cost policy.

Content Policy

Foreign content: The portion of an export that originates outside the seller’s country, excluding local costs incurred in the buyer’s country. A product must be shipped from the United States to qualify as either U.S. export or U.S. content.

• ^{60. Did any of your company’s transactions with EXIM involve foreign content?}

Yes No

Don't know

Content Policy (continued)

Aggregation: An exporter can choose to certify to the foreign content within his/her products on an item-by-item basis or can choose to aggregate the level of foreign content of all the items listed in a single invoice.

Average annual content certification : Exporters can choose to calculate the average foreign content for each export from a specific location/manufacturing facility, which is based on a projected level of foreign content. This calculation is applied to Ex-Im financing for that specific export for the following year.

Codification of Ex-Im’s services content policy : During Ex-Im Bank’s 2013-2014 content review process, the Bank sought to clarify and codify its services content policy by defining eligibility standards for: 1) what constitutes an eligible services contract; 2) which workers qualify as U.S. content; 3) the treatment of licenses; and 4) the content requirements for tools used in the execution of a services export contract.

61. Did EXIM’s foreign content policy affect your company’s sourcing decisions?

Yes No

Don't know

61. If yes, please explain how it affected your sourcing decision.

61. How does EXIM's foreign content policy compare with other ECAs?

EXIM is far less competitive EXIM is slightly less competitive EXIM is equally competitive

EXIM is slightly more competitive EXIM is much more competitive Don't know

61. Has EXIM's efforts to add additional flexibility to its foreign content policy helped increase EXIM's competitiveness vis-a-vis other ECA's foreign content policies? These flexibilities include: average annual content certification, codifying the services content policy, and allowing aggregation of content as opposed to calculating support on an item-by-item basis.

Did not increase competitiveness at all Slightly increased competitiveness

Greatly increased competitiveness Don’t know

61. Please provide comments on your company’s experience with EXIM content policy.

Economic Impact

Economic impact: The Congressional requirement that EXIM assess whether the extension of EXIM financing support is likely to cause substantial injury to U.S. industry or would result in the production of substantially the same product that is the subject of specified trade measures.

• ^{66. Did EXIM's economic impact policy affect any of your company’s transactions?}

Yes No

Don't know

Economic Impact (continued)

67. Did EXIM’s economic impact policy affect your company’s sourcing decisions?

Yes No

Don't know

67. How does this requirement compare with other ECA's?

EXIM is far less competitive EXIM is slightly less competitive EXIM is equally competitive

EXIM is slightly more competitive EXIM is much more competitive Don't know

67. Please provide general comments on your company’s experience with EXIM's economic impact policy.

Shipping Policy

Certifications or determinations (historically referred to as waivers) : When MARAD advises Ex-Im whether shipments on foreign flagged vessels are eligible for Ex-Im financing. For certifications MARAD considers vessel availability, and for determinations MARAD considers other related matters such as future shipments under the transaction.

MARAD: U.S. Marine Administration.

* ^{70. Did any of your deals have to conform to the requirement to ship on U.S. flag vessels?}

Yes No

Don't know

Shipping Policy (continued)

71. Did you approach MARAD for any certifications of Non-Availability?

Yes No

Don't know

71. If yes, was your company satisfied with the outcome? Please elaborate in comments section

Yes No

Don't know

Comment

71. Did you approach MARAD for any determination (e.g. Compensatory, General, Reachback)?

Yes No

Don't know

71. If yes, was your company satisfied with the outcome? Please elaborate in comments section below.

Yes No

Don't know

Comment

71. For those transactions that were affected by the U.S. flag vessel shipping requirement, how many had the following final outcomes:

U.S. export transaction went forward with EXIM financing

U.S. export transaction went forward without EXIM financing

U.S. export transaction did not go forward because buyer selected another competitor

71. Does this requirement make EXIM more or less competitive with other ECAs?

Makes EXIM far less competitive

Makes EXIM slightly less competitive Makes EXIM equally competitive

Makes EXIM slightly more competitive Makes EXIM much more competitive Don't know

71. Please provide general comments on your company’s experience with EXIM's shipping policy.

Non Standard Financing (Non-OECD Compliant Financing)

Market Windows: Government sponsored programs that assert to offer export credit on market terms, outside of the OECD Arrangement rules. ECAs often simultaneously manage an “Official Window” that offers OCED Arrangement terms for riskier transactions.

Non-OECD Compliant Export Financing : Transactions that do not comply with the OECD Arrangement.

• ^{78. Did your company encounter competition benefiting from non-OECD compliant financing (such as} Market Windows)?

Yes No

Don't know

Non Standard Financing (Non-OECD Compliant Financing)

79. From which country?

79. How did this competition impact your sales?

79. Please provide general comments on your company’s experience competing with businesses that benefit from non-OECD compliant financing.

Non Standard Financing (Untied Financing)

Untied financing: A form of credit support that is extended by a government entity to a recipient for the purpose of providing credit and is not linked to or conditioned upon the purchase of goods and services/exports from the donor government. Untied financing is characterized as market-based financing, especially regarding the interest rate, but may not require any cash down payment and/or have repayment terms in excess of what is allowed under the OECD Arrangement.

• ^{82. Did your company encounter competition benefiting from official untied financing programs?}

Yes No

Don't know

Non Standard Financing (Untied Financing)

83. From which country?

83. How did this competition impact your sales?

83. Please provide general comments on your company’s experience competing with businesses that benefit from untied financing.

Tied Aid

Tied aid: Concessional financing support provided by donor governments in the form of a grant or a “soft” loan for which capital goods procurement by developing countries is contractually linked or tied to procurement from firms located in the donor country.

• ^{86. Did your company encounter foreign competition benefiting from tied aid financing programs?}

Yes No

Don't know

Tied Aid (continued)

87. In general, how did EXIM’s tied aid financing compare with that offered by other ECAs?

EXIM is far less competitive EXIM is slightly less competitive EXIM is equally competitive

EXIM is slightly more competitive EXIM is much more competitive Don't know

87. Please provide general comments on your company’s experience with tied aid.

Foreign Currency Guarantee

Foreign currency guarantee : ECA-covered export credit that is denominated in a currency (either hard or soft) other than the ECA’s domestic currency. Hard currencies refer to readily convertible currencies such as the Euro or Yen. Soft currencies refer to currencies, not readily convertible, such as the Mexican peso or South African rand.

• ^{89. Did your company use EXIM’s foreign currency guarantee program?}

Yes No

Don't know

Foreign Currency Guarantee (continued)

90. Generally speaking, how did EXIM’s foreign currency guarantee program compare with that offered by other ECAs?

EXIM is far less competitive EXIM is slightly less competitive EXIM is equally competitive

EXIM is slightly more competitive EXIM is much more competitive Don't know

90. Which of the following types of support did your company request from EXIM?

Hard Currency Soft Currency

Both Hard and Soft Currency Don't know

90. Please provide general comments on your company’s experience with EXIM's foreign currency guarantee program.

Denied Deals

Denied deals: Transactions that were submitted to EXIM but for some reason not approved.

• ^{93. Did EXIM deny any of your company’s applications?}

Yes No

Don't know

Denied Deals (continued)

94. How many of your company’s EXIM applications were denied?

1 4

2 5

3 6+

94. What happened to those transactions that EXIM denied? (choose all that apply)

Won without EXIM support Sourced from non-U.S. supplier

Sourced from your company's foreign subsidiary Sourced from other U.S. supplier

Still in process/no decision yet Postponed

Buyer cancelled procurement Don’t know

Other (please specify)

94. Please provide any general comments on denied deals.

Deterred Deals

Deterred deals: Transactions that either did not come to EXIM because of prior knowledge of EXIM’s eligibility requirements and/or policy or the application was withdrawn by the exporter because the exporter and/or lender realized that EXIM approval was going to be difficult to obtain.

• ^{97. Did any of EXIM's policies deter your company from seeking EXIM support for any transactions?}

Yes No

Don't know

Deterred Deals (continued)

98. Which of the following were reasons for not applying to, or withdrawing an application from, EXIM? (choose all that apply)

Co-financing: Lack of availability and/or flexibility

Cover policy: Off cover in requested market and/or specific tenor

Economic impact: Product(s) subject to specific trade measure

Economic impact: Subject to detailed economic analysis

Environmental policies: Requirement to publish ex-ante overly transparent for competitive reasons

Environmental policies: Environmental review process Exposure fees: Better pricing from other ECA Exposure fees: Lack of predictability

Foreign currency guarantee: Lack of availability

Foreign currency guarantee: EXIM crystallization requirement Foreign content: Did not meet EXIM content requirements Interest rates: Lender guarantee interest rate cost prohibitive

Interest rates: Inability to access to EXIM direct loan

Local costs: Requirement to demonstrate foreign competition and/or local financing not available from commercial market (medium term only)

MARAD PR-17: Requirement to ship on U.S. flagged vessel MARAD PR-17: Determination not made

MARAD PR-17: Processing time for determination

Market Windows: Request to match financing not granted/Did not meet EXIM requirement(s) to match

Risk-taking: Requirement for risk mitigation and related costs (legal, financial, etc.)

Services: Stand-alone services not covered Services: Associated services not covered

Tied aid: Transaction did not meet, or not likely to meet, EXIM tied aid policy

Tied aid: Processing time

Untied financing: Absence of untied financing program

Other (please specify)

98. Please provide any general comments on deterred deals that you may wish to share.

Global Government Influences - U.S.

• ^{100. Did any U.S. government actions impact your business with EXIM?}

Yes No

Don't know

Global Government Influences - U.S. (continued)

101. Overall, what type of impact did these U.S. government actions have?

Positive Negative Neutral

101. Please provide specific examples of which U.S. government actions impacted your deals.

Global Government Influences - Foreign Countries

• ^{103. Did any foreign government actions impact your business with EXIM?}

Yes No

Don't know

Global Government Influences - Foreign Countries (Continued)

104. Overall, what type of impact did these foreign government actions have?

Positive Negative Neutral

104. Please provide specific examples of which foreign government actions impacted your deals.