Export-Import Bank, or Ex-Im, is an independent agency that has supported millions of jobs in its 81-year history and earned billions of dollars in revenue for the U.S. Treasury. The bank, which exists solely to empower U.S. businesses to succeed in global markets, has enjoyed bipartisan support from both Republican and Democrat presidents.
For thousands of American businesses, the bank has been a critical tool in leveling the playing field in a competitive global marketplace and filling the trade financing gaps that the private sector is unable or unwilling to provide. In fiscal year 2014, Ex-Im Bank supported 164,000 U.S. jobs through $20.5 billion in loan authorizations to export businesses, including thousands of small and minority-owned businesses. In fact, out of 3,700-plus authorizations in 2014, more than 3,300 – or nearly 90 percent – directly served U.S small businesses. Moreover, about one out of every five directly served minority- or women-owned businesses.
But because Congress failed to act, the bank’s lending authority expired last July, preventing the bank from processing or engaging in new business. As a result, the U.S. is now the only major economy in the world without an Export Bank.
Trading with the rest of the world, whether through exports or imports, is an important part of the U.S economy. Our nation is losing out on good-paying jobsand small businesses are losing out on billions of dollars in exports. To date, the U.S has lost an estimated $10.2 billion export dollars and more than 58,000 American jobs because of inaction by Congress.
To many on the far right, Ex-Im Bank has become a new symbol of corporate welfare and an overgrown federal government. But in reality, Ex-Im Bank operates at no cost to taxpayers and maintains itself without external support from the government. In fact, in 2014, the bank generated $675 million in revenue for the U.S Treasury through fees and interest paid by customers.
Furthermore, Ex-Im Bank has provided support to businesses and increased exports in all 50 states, including Georgia. The bank has provided funding for several companies integral to Georgia’s economy. Over the past nine years, it has supported $5 billion of total exports from 225 employers in the state.
The finance support from Ex-Im Bank enables companies to be more competitive around the world and to grow the number of employees here at home. Last year, the Bank approved a guarantee of $300 million to Gulfstream, a company headquartered in Savannah that employs more than 6,610 people. The Boeing Co., another aerospace supporter of the Ex-Im bank, had 700 employees in Georgia as of 2014.
Since the U.S. Export-Import Bank authorization expired, companies like GE have started talks to move their businesses elsewhere. In fact, the company announced that it would move approximately 500 jobs to France, Chinaand Hungary. This move will have an impact not only on employees, but also the hundreds of suppliers in Georgia that cannot move their facilities. Without the bank, we not only endanger economic and job growth in the U.S andGeorgia, but we also put our nation’s leadership in the global economy at risk.
It is time to put aside partisan differences and put our taxpayers and small businesses first. Our exporting businesses, and the families who rely on them for the security of a steady paycheck deserve better. They need certainty and protection to tackle new markets, as well as expand and create jobs. That is why I call on Congress to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank this fall.
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