Visitors to the Export/Import Bank’s website are now greeted with a new message concering its uncertain status. |
If you’ve been following the news out of Washington, you may have noticed a long-simmering ideological fight over the future of the Export/Import Bank (Ex/Im Bank) coming to a head recently, as Congress has been unable to reach an agreement to renew its charter. Since last month, the bank has been operating on an expired charter, which means it can continue to service existing loans but is barred from taking on new business.
Digital Check has been a great supporter of Ex/Im bank programs to support our channel partners and their customers. Ex/Im bank programs have been utilized successfully by many of our international customers and help to support Digital Check’s growth and leadership in international markets.
For those unfamiliar with how it works, when an American company makes an overseas sale, the Ex/Im Bank provides trade-financing to the buyer so the sale proceeds smoothly. That helps American companies generate greater exports, and overseas buyers to put their solutions to work right away.
Earlier this month, Thomas P. Anderson, our President, joined a number of other Chicago-area business leaders at a trade roundtable held by Congressman, Bob Dold. Congressman Dold wanted to understand how Illinois-based companies have used their partnership with the Ex/Im Bank to grow their business and create American jobs. (Unlike many others in the electronics business, Digital Check sources some of its components overseas but does all assembly, testing and shipping from its manufacturing facility in Southern California). Mr. Dold has called for the reauthorization of the Ex/Im charter, and seemed hopeful that Congress will be able to strike a deal on the bank’s future when it reconvenes in September.
Tom Anderson explained that, “Partnering with the Ex/Im bank has allowed Digital Check to dramatically expand our exports to over 28 countries around the world, but also helped us grow and expand our production. As a result, this growth has allowed us to hire more workers here in the U.S to meet the growing demands for our check scanners in international markets.”
Ex/Im Bank is an essential part of our efforts to continue to support our international partners and customers, provide a meaningful point of differentiation to our competitors from Asia and Europe, and to meet the needs of banking customers around the world.
Stay tuned for more details as news develops.
