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Commercial banks are often not the best source of loans if you need money to start or expand your export activities, even if you have a relationship with the bank. There are at least two reasons for a bank’s reluctance: an exaggerated estimation of risk and a lack of experience with international transactions.
What to do? Luckily, the federal government has addressed this market hiccough, if not failure, by providing a number of financing programs specifically designed to encourage more U.S. companies, especially smaller ones, to export.
Let's look briefly at four of these programs, all of which are designed to help companies meet the special demands presented by new orders from abroad and to prevent foreign competitors from winning the new business by offering financing terms to the customer.
1. Export Express.
This loan program provides working capital and fixed asset financing for companies wanting to begin or expand exporting. Loans can be used to support standby letters of credit, export development activities, such as participation in trade shows with foreign buyers present, and translating product literature into the language of your customer.
You can borrow up to $500,000 with terms of up to 25 years for fixed assets and up to seven years for working capital. This program is managed by the Small Business Administration.
The program is called "express" because the approval process, including associated paperwork, is designed to be fast and painless. With no commercial lender involved, as is the case with loan guarantee programs, fast turnarounds appear to be more the rule than the exception.
2. The Export Working Capital Program.
This program provides support for export orders or the export transaction cycle, from purchase order to final payment. Funds can be used for raw materials, inventory, labor, and the resulting foreign accounts receivable, enabling you to extend more favorable terms to your customer. Funds can be transaction specific or revolving. Amount borrowed can be up to $5 million, with 90 percent Small Business Guarantee to the commercial lender. SBA has a stable of these lenders so you don't have to find one on your own. The commercial lender manages the loan and is on the hook for just 10 percent of its value.
The benefit to you is that this loan frees up other lines of credit for your U.S. sales efforts, and 100 percent of the money can be used for export-related costs.
3. The Working Capital Guarantee Program.
This is another guarantee program from the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. in concert with a commercial lender who takes a 10 percent stake. There is no maximum amount for the loans and funds can be used to purchase and or manufacture U.S. goods and services for export.
You can purchase raw materials or finished goods to fulfill export sales orders. One user of this program uses money to buy used U.S. made mining equipment. He finds buyers in Africa and sells the equipment to them at a reasonable markup.
A variation of this program is to provide funds through a foreign bank to a foreign buyer to purchase U.S. made goods and services from a U.S. company. The foreign bank takes a 10 percent stake in the loan. Ex-Im has a stable of such banks and will work with new ones that your buyer uses.
4. The International Trade Loan Program.
Another SBA product, this loan provides long-term financing to support U.S. companies that are expanding because of growing export sales or have been adversely impacted because of foreign competition and need to modernize in order to meet the external threat.
Maximum loan amount is up to $5 million and funds can be used for fixed assets such as construction, building, and real estate equipment.
WPG is asked what the differences are between the Export-Import Bank and SBA guarantee programs. The obvious ones are that Ex-Im has no maximum amount and it makes loans to foreign buyers to purchase U.S. made goods from U.S. suppliers. SBA has the only program to help upgrade physical plant in order to recover from and meet foreign competition.
| Product Model | Inside Diameter | Outside Diameter | Thickness |
| PRM707580 bearing | 70 | 75 | 80 |
| PCM101212B bearing | 10 | 12 | 12 |