WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Export-Import Bank of the United States said on Tuesday it was temporarily withdrawing all financing support for exports of critical medical equipment and supplies needed to fight the coronavirus, including respirators, face shields, gloves and other personal protective equipment.
The exclusion order, which will remain in place until Sept. 30, was unanimously approved by the export credit agency's board of directors "to help ensure the United States has medical supplies and equipment that are in short supply and necessary to combat and prevent the spread of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic in the United States," EXIM said in a statement.
It comes as President Donald Trump has sought to limit exports of critical medical supplies, including masks from 3M Co (N:MMM).
EXIM said the exclusion order applies to all of its loans, loan guarantees, and insurance products covering items identified in a March 25 notice https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/hhs-dfa-notice-of-scarce-materials-for-hoarding-prevention.pdf from the Department of Health and Human Services and an April 3 memorandum https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/memorandum-allocating-certain-scarce-threatened-health-medical-resources-domestic-use from Trump to allocate medical resources to domestic use.
These items include N95 respirators, other surgical masks, face shields, medical examination gloves, portable ventilators, powered air purifying respirators, medical gowns, sanitizing and sterilization and drugs containing hydroxychloroquine as their active ingredient.
EXIM President Kimberly Reed said financing of medical equipment exports is currently less than 1% of EXIM's overall financing portfolio.
The export lender, which was restricted to small transactions until last May by congressional inaction over board nominees, financed only about $9.1 billion of U.S. export sales in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2019.