Q: What is the Export-Import (EXIM) Bank?
A: EXIM is a federally backed bank that connects American companies to global markets.

Q: How does it do that?
A: By providing financial assistance to American companies and reducing risk for foreign customers wanting to buy American products.

Q: Why do we need EXIM?
A: EXIM provides financial assistance to companies when private banks can’t, enabling American companies to sell their products on global markets.

Q: Who benefits from EXIM?
A: Machine shops, manufacturers, suppliers, small businesses, and American workers whose work ends up in exported products, such as commercial and military aircraft.

In our nation’s earliest days, agricultural manufacturing created faster and more efficient ways to cultivate the land through technological advancements in farming equipment. In 1830, the steam engine was developed – a precursor to Henry Ford’s automobile and the first-ever assembly-line in 1913.

By the early 1900s, the U.S. surpassed Britain as the largest global manufacturer and by the end of World War II, our nation was known as the “factory of the world,” producing half of global goods by the 1950s.

America’s manufacturing sector remains the backbone of our nation’s economy and is the key to sustaining independence, just as it had been at the country’s founding.

As America commemorates its 250th year, Watch U.S. Fly is proud to highlight our nation’s manufacturers and the incredible products they produce. From airplanes and rockets and everything in between, the U.S. would not be the global leader it is without our hardworking manufacturers.

The Freedom Plane is a National Archives traveling exhibition bringing nine original Founding-era documents to eight U.S. cities in commemoration of America’s 250th anniversary in 2026.

Inspired by the Bicentennial Freedom Train, the Freedom Plane National Tour will make documents fundamental to America’s founding accessible to Americans across the country.

The eight cities include:

• Kansas City, MO
• Atlanta, GA
• Los Angeles, CA
• Houston, TX
• Denver, CO
• Miami, FL
• Dearborn, MI
• Seattle, WA

What city will you see the Freedom Plane in? Share with us here!