ICYMI: Congressional Hearing On Ex-Im Reveals Vital Role Of Ex-Im To U.S. Businesses And Jobs

In case you missed it, job creators and policy experts spoke to lawmakers on Capitol Hill about the importance of reauthorizing the Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank during a hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade last week.

 

The hearing included testimony from Tyler Schroeder, Financial Analyst from Texas-based Air Tractor; T.J. Raguso, Executive Vice President of the International Division at Amegy Bank; and Loren Thompson, Chief Operating Officer at the Lexington Institute.

 

U.S. Representatives Ted Poe (R-TX) and Denny Heck (D-WA) were among a bipartisan group of Members at the hearing who voiced strong support for Ex-Im.

 

~Jared

Tyler Schroeder: Air Tractor Has “Created Jobs Through Exports” And Ex-Im “Is The Tool That Has Allowed Us To Do It.” “Air Tractor is a small business in a very small town of three thousand people who has been able to create jobs through exports. Nobody sees Olney, Texas as a place where that happens. But indeed it does. It does in small town America. We can do this and Ex-Im Bank is the tool that allows us to do this. Please let us continue to do this.” (Tyler Schroeder, Testimony To House Foreign Affiars Subcommittee On Terrorism, Nonproliferation, And Trade, 10/23/15)

 

T.J. Raguso: Without Ex-Im, U.S. Companies Are Less Competitive. “No Ex-Im means fewer financing options, higher costs, and decrease competitiveness. The future of the  Ex-Im Bank matters to my Bank because it matters to my customers.” (T.J. Raguso, Testimony To House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee On Terrorism, Nonproliferation,  And Trade, 10/23/15)

 

Loren Thompson: Ending Ex-Im Provides “No Gains” To Anyone Except U.S. Trade Rivals. “Near as I can tell, there will be no positive consequences, no gains to the United States from losing Ex-Im. Taxpayers won’t save any money because Ex-Im already pays for itself. The government won’t get smaller because other steps will need to be taken in order to level the playing field for U.S. exports. And the economy won’t become more competitive because it will operate at a disadvantage with countries that still offer export credit….The consequences of shutting down the Export-Import https://exportersforexim.org/files/2015/10/bank are negative for pretty much everybody except perhaps our trade rivals.” (Loren Thompson, Testimony To House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee On Terrorism, Nonproliferation, And Trade, 10/23/15)

Loren Thompson: Letting Ex-Im Expire Hurts The U.S.’s Manufacturing Base. “We will lose even more of America’s manufacturing base, which once was said to be the arsenal of democracy but now has shrunk to barely 12 percent of our economy…It simply isn’t feasible anymore for big manufacturers to achieve economies of scale without having sizable overseas sales because, as the chairman said in his opening remarks, 95 percent of the world lives outside of the United States. So when financing for foreign trade is impaired, the whole enterprise suffers.” (Loren Thompson, Testimony To House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee On Terrorism, Nonproliferation, And Trade, 10/23/15)

U.S. Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX): Ex-Im Levels The Playing Field For U.S. Exporters. “For some large infrastructure projects markets a bid will not even be accepted if a company does not have access to an export credit agency. And some billion-dollar opportunities for companies in international markets require the availability of export credit before they will even entertain a bid. Without Ex-Im bank to level the playing field, supporters say American companies will continue to lose out to foreign competitors backed by aggressive government support.” (Rep. Ted Poe, Comments To House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee On Terrorism, Nonproliferation, And Trade, 10/23/15)

U.S. Rep. Denny Heck (D-WA): “The Boeing Company Doesn’t Actually Make Airplanes…15,000 Businesses In Their Supply Chain” Make Them. “The Boeing Company doesn’t actually make airplanes. They don’t. They design and assemble them. The people that actually make the airplanes are the 15,000 business in their supply chain, six to eight thousand of which are small businesses and that is who will be hurt most by our failure to reauthorize the Bank.” (Rep. Denny Heck, Comments To House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee On Terrorism, Nonproliferation, And Trade, 10/23/15)