Ex-Im Bank chief is 'confident' Congress will renew bank's charter
| Washington
US Export-Import Bank chairman and president Fred Hochberg聽says he is confident Congress will vote to renew the bank鈥檚 charter before it expires June 30, despite opposition from conservative Republicans.
鈥淚 am still confident that we are going to get reauthorized,鈥� Mr. Hochberg told a Monitor-hosted breakfast for reporters. The bank guarantees loans for US companies that sell products overseas.
鈥淭he fact that we create jobs, we send money to the Treasury, and 90 percent of our customers are small business are compelling arguments,鈥� he said. Last year the bank returned $675 million in profits.
鈥淲e need more trade agreements,鈥� Hochberg said, referring to President Obama鈥檚 battle to win congressional approval of fast-track negotiating powers called trade promotion authority (TPA) and of a massive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement with a dozen Pacific Rim countries. But the bank鈥檚 chief executive said he thought Ex-Im would be reauthorized regardless of the outcome of those other trade battles.
The chairman acknowledged he was not certain Congress would reauthorize the bank before the June 30 expiration of its ability to make new loans. 鈥淚 am going to leave the legislative strategy and tactics to people on the Hill,鈥� he said. One frequently discussed scenario is that reauthorization of the bank will be tied to a must-pass congressional measure this summer funding highway construction.
Hochberg disclosed that this week he had lobbied House majority leader Kevin McCarthy (R) of California and House Financial Services Committee chair Jeb Hensarling (R) of Texas. Both are on record opposing Ex-Im reauthorization.
Representative McCarty told "Fox News Sunday" anchor Chris Wallace, 鈥淚 think Ex-Im Bank is ... something government does not have to be involved in. The private sector can do it." Representative Hensarling that the bank is about entrenching trade barriers, 鈥渘ot to mention providing a form of corporate welfare to the top 50 members of the Fortune 500 companies, and functional foreign aid to the likes of China and Russia.鈥�
Hochberg said he met with Hensarling on Wednesday and had a long conversation with McCarthy on Thursday. 鈥淲e talked about some of their concerns regarding Ex-Im,鈥� Hochberg said. 鈥淚 am looking for a solution. I am looking to forge and to find common ground.鈥�
If the bank stops making new loans for a significant amount of time, Hochberg said the result would be 鈥測ou will see layoffs, you will see lost business, and ... we are already seeing foreign governments and foreign companies taking advantage of the uncertainty.鈥�
Some conservatives, like Rep. Jim Jordan (R) of Ohio, take a different view. If the bank is not reauthorized, 鈥渢he sky will not fall. The seas will not rise. In fact, in my view, and in the view of many economists, quite the opposite will happen,鈥� he said in a statement. 鈥淭he expiration of the Bank鈥檚 charter will mean that companies doing business overseas will reorient themselves away from Washington and towards market signals. The Bank鈥檚 absence will make our economy stronger.鈥�
On Friday the bank released its on competition in the global credit markets. It found that competition has 鈥渞amped up markedly for US exporters.鈥� Only about a third of other governments鈥� trade financing activities abide by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) rules that Ex-Im follows. That level of compliance with the OECD standards is down from 100 percent in 1999.
