Article
Trade Financing

Turn Export Opportunities into Sales: New Online Trade Finance Guide Makes it Easier than Ever

July 27, 2022
This post contains external links. Please review our external linking policy.

Yuki Fujiyama is a trade finance specialist in the Office of Finance and Insurance Industries and the author of the Trade Finance Guide: A Quick Reference for U.S. Exporters.

Many U.S. small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) struggle to find ways to expand their sales, unaware of the economic potential that lies in diverse global markets. And, with 95% of the world’s consumers residing outside of the United States, it can be daunting to consider how to reach them and navigate global trade.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA) is dedicated to helping U.S. businesses reach success through exports. One of the ways we do this is through ITA’s free online resource, our Trade Finance Guide: A Quick Reference for U.S. Exporters.

This concise, easy-to-understand and use tool was first published in 2007 and specifically developed as a how-to guide for U.S. SMEs seeking to enter and expand their businesses in global markets, while also overcoming common challenges to leverage export opportunities into actual sales. Whether you’ve been in business for years or are just starting out in the export market, we have the information and resources you need to make well-informed decisions and get your business on the map.

Let me walk you through our guide.

What is the Trade Finance Guide?

The Trade Finance Guide covers the most commonly used trade finance techniques and U.S. government export finance programs written in plain, easy-to-understand language. The Guide is:

  • A “60-minute” self-learning tool for America’s new-to-export SMEs that wish to learn about their financing options and how to ensure getting paid from export sales.
  • A user-friendly counseling tool for international credit, banking, and trade finance professionals and export counselors for client assistance and business development.
  • A flexible educational tool for academic institutions teaching international business subjects.

Our guide uses a no-nonsense approach to make it easier for new-to-export SMEs to learn the basics of trade finance and to understand how to mitigate the risk of non-payment while winning new cross-border sales opportunities and assuring the delivery of goods and services to importers.

What’s New 2022?

The Guide is now an online-based publication! ITA will continuously update the new online edition of the Guide, including making available a downloadable version with revisions annually.

The modernized guide has been refined to provide better clarity, and adds two new chapters targeting SMEs in their recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and to explore financial innovation through digitalization:

  • Chapter 1:   Access to Capital for Startups in Global Markets
  • Chapter 16: Emerging Trends: The Digitalization of Trade Finance

Finally, the Trade Finance Guide website will post short resource videos in the following chapters:

We hope that you’ll use this information to think globally when planning business strategy. Remember that ITA has dedicated staff to assist you, regardless of what step in the process you’re in.

Development of the 2022 Trade Finance Guide

The 2022 online edition of the Trade Finance Guide was developed in collaboration with the following private-sector organizations and U.S. government export finance agencies.

Private Sector Organizations:

  • BAFT:  Bankers Association for Finance and Trade
  • FCIB:  Finance, Credit, and International Business Association
  • ICTF:  Association of International Credit & Trade Finance Professionals
  • IFA:  International Factoring Association
  • ITFA:  International Trade and Forfaiting Association – Americas Regional Chapter
  • NASBITE:  NASBITE International
  • Thunderbird: Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University

U.S. Government Export Finance Agencies:

  • EXIM:  Export-Import Bank of the United States – Office of Small Business
  • SBA:  U.S. Small Business Administration – Office of International Trade
  • USDA:  U.S. Department of Agriculture – Foreign Agricultural Service’s Credit Programs Division

For more information about the Trade Finance Guide, contact Yuki Fujiyama, the author and project manager of the Guide, in ITA’s Office of Finance and Insurance Industries via email at yuki.fujiyama@trade.gov.

.