CEE is a not for profit association that operates as an educational and advocacy organization on behalf of our members on legislative and regulatory matters affecting U.S. government export finance and assistance programs: the Export Import Bank, OPIC, the Trade and Development Agency and the Commerce Department export promotion programs. We address any legislative or regulatory issue that may affect the ability of U.S. exporters to utilize these programs, thus we are active on: appropriations for these agencies, trade sanctions that may limit these agencies, and multilateral policies that may limit these agencies.
Currently, CEE has 29 members, comprised of some of the most active U.S. companies in world markets, from a variety of industry sectors, and two of the largest financial firms providing trade finance. Two national trade associations are members, representing machine tool builders and specialized capital equipment manufacturers, each with hundreds of small/medium sized firms. The governing Board of Directors is drawn from 10 of the founding member companies. A link to our member list is provided on the left.
CEE also leads five industry-wide working groups on Export control legislation, U.S. visa policies, Dual-Use export financing, Iraq reconstruction, and Libya Trade and Investment. These working groups are composed of representatives from both the corporate and non-profit world. By reaching into a wide range of organizations, we ensure that our work is effective and able to produce concrete results.
Our activities are all oriented toward strengthening our members’ ability to compete successfully in world markets through improving federal programs for export finance, project development and insurance and export promotion/advocacy. We carry out this mission through up-to-the-minute information for our members on legislation and regulations, development and implementation of advocacy strategies to protect our members' interests, testimony to Congressional committees and federal agencies and intensive engagement with Congressional staff and federal agency officials, and research for individual members.