Battle over US ExIm reauthorization begins again

(Financial Times, Washington, 20 April 2014) The Export-Import Bank of the United States, which provides finance for foreign purchases of US products, faces a fresh battle to survive... That threatens some of its biggest beneficiaries in corporate America, from Boeing to Caterpillar and General Electric. With renewal of Ex-Im’s charter due at the end of September, there are conservative voices on Capitol Hill, as well as at many corporations within the US, that want to see its operations scaled back, if not halted altogether. A Times editorial argued that: "Vital planks of US international economic engagement are at stake. Each delay deepens the uncertainty and imposes a cost on America’s reputation. In the case of the Exim Bank, it also imposes a cost on US exporters. The sooner Congress acts, the better. Waiting until Exim’s licence expires in September should not be an option." The conservative Heritage Foundations claims: "The bank is beset by mismanagement, dysfunction, and risk, all of which have been documented for years by Ex–Im’s own inspector general and the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The problems are the inevitable result of government assuming a function far beyond its proper purview and one that rightly belongs to private business alone."