The Board of Directors at the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) unanimously approved its fifth Make More in America (MMIA) deal, bringing the total amount authorized under the flagship initiative to nearly $325 million.
The nearly $51 million in financing will go to U.S. small business exporter, Electrovaya USA, Inc. Based in Jamestown, New York, Electrovaya is a leading lithium-ion battery technology and manufacturing company. Financing from this transaction will be used to support the interior construction of a manufacturing facility in Jamestown, New York and procure equipment for lithium-ion battery cell pack production lines that will aid in the company’s increased production capacity and reshore a critical part of the production cycle from overseas competitors. The transaction is expected to support an estimated 290 good-paying U.S. jobs.
“With today’s transaction, we are underscoring EXIM’s commitment to the expansion of domestic exports and the rebuilding of a resilient stateside supply chain,” said EXIM President and Chair Reta Jo Lewis. “Ushering through our fifth Make More in America deal further highlights EXIM’s efforts to support U.S. manufacturing in transformational export areas while creating jobs and increasing export competitiveness across the global landscape.”
Established in 2022 in response to President Biden’s Executive Order on America’s Supply Chains, the Make More in America initiative was designed to spur domestic manufacturing and reinforce America’s supply chains. By leveraging its existing financing capabilities, with financing priority available to environmentally beneficial projects, small businesses and transformational export areas, EXIM is working to help level the playing field for American companies competing in overseas markets, especially those with an export-oriented domestic manufacturing nexus.
This transaction also falls under EXIM’s China and Transformational Exports Program (CTEP), a mandate for EXIM to help U.S. exporters facing competition from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and ensure the U.S. continues to lead in the 10 transformational export areas, which include semiconductors, renewable energy, storage and efficiency, AI and biotech. The expansion of the manufacturing facility will allow Electrovaya to produce battery cells and modules which are currently produced in China, helping to the reshore a critical supply chain and create hundreds of American jobs.
