One Size Does Not Fit All
Written by Christopher Wenk
Without congressional action, the U.S. Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) will close its doors on September 30. A collection of political activists, think tank staffers, and pundits have mounted a campaign against renewing Ex-Im’s charter.
One of these critics’ most common refrains is that Ex-Im is unnecessary because it “only” supported $37.4 billion in U.S. exports last year—or less than 2% of the total.
In fact, Ex-Im’s limited role is a virtue, not a problem to be solved. The vast majority of trade finance is provided by commercial banks, and most of the time that’s the end of the story.
But as we’ve pointed out repeatedly (including here, here, and here), exceptional circumstances at times make Ex-Im truly indispensable to American exporters.
More broadly, though, it’s a mystery why anyone would dismiss $37 billion in exports as insignificant and cede these sales to companies and workers in other countries. Let’s put that number in perspective:
Small business owners, executives at major corporations, and workers in a host of export-dependent industries across the nation are perplexed by the inside-the-beltway campaign against Ex-Im. This campaign will continue when Congress returns to Washington next week.
But by dismissing $37 billion as chump change, the activists calling for Ex-Im to be closed are showing just how out of touch they are with the concerns of Americans across the nation. Those concerns start with the economy and jobs—concerns that closing Ex-Im will only magnify. Congress, are you listening?
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The following blog was written by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The full blog page with graphics can be found here.