The U.S. Congress should pass a long-term reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank before the institution’s charter expires on June 30, argues Boeing, one of the bank’s major beneficiaries. Dissolving the bank could affect more than one million jobs throughout the U.S. aerospace supply chain, the manufacturer contends.
Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and CEO Raymond Conner remarked on the ongoing Ex-Im Bank reauthorization dispute on March 17, during a one-on-one “conversation” with Thomas Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Donohue started by asking Conner what the impact would be to Boeing if Congress allows the bank’s charter to lapse.
“It would impact our competitive position really significantly, and frankly it would impact about 1.4 million jobs that are across the United States that are associated with the commercial aerospace industry through our 15,000-plus [company] supply chain. It would really impact us all,” Conner replied.
He observed that some 60 other countries have export credit agencies comparable to the bank, which helps finance exports of American-made products, including airplanes and helicopters. “All the major exporters have an Ex-Im—the Europeans, the Brazilians, the Canadians, the Japanese, the Chinese. These are all people that are going to be producing commercial airplanes, or are [already] producing commercial airplanes, that we either compete with or will compete with in the future. If Ex-Im is not available, that’s just going to provide a distinct advantage to those countries.”
But the Ex-Im Bank’s practices have run afoul of some U.S. airlines, notably Delta Air Lines, which oppose U.S. government backed loan guarantees that help foreign competitors purchase Boeing widebody aircraft. The airline labor movement has also weighed in; in late February, Air Line Pilots Association president Timothy Canoll in a letter urged lawmakers to reform the bank’s financing practices related to widebodies. “In short, Congress must make certain the Bank ends its practice of financing widebody aircraft for state-owned, state-supported and credit-worthy foreign airlines,” the letter stated.
The bank also faces opposition from some “tea party” Republicans in Congress and likeminded organizations such as the Club for Growth and Heritage Action for America, which believe that it distorts markets in favor of large and politically connected corporations. As Conner spoke at the U.S. Chamber’s Aviation Summit in Washington, D.C., Democrats in the Republican-controlled House tried and failed to force a vote on a seven-year bank reauthorization, The Hill newspaper reported.
The chamber, which is itself influential in Washington, supports the bank’s reauthorization. Donohue provided some insight into the business organization’s lobbying effort to support the bank on Capitol Hill. “We have a lot of trouble up on the Hill with a group of the congressmen that, first of all, think we shouldn’t be in this business even though we make money at it,” he said. “Second of all, they think that if we’re in this business we should do it only for the small companies; we shouldn’t do it for the big guys.
“What we’re trying to do now is go around and show every member of the Congress how many companies in their district” benefit from the bank, Donohue added.