Ex-Im Bank Scouts Out Future Export-Financing Deals

(Wall Street Journal, Beijing, 9 August 2016) The U.S. Export-Import Bank is vetting major export-financing deals in advance so it can resume lending as soon as a U.S. Senate logjam is resolved, its chairman said Tuesday in Beijing. Fred Hochberg, Ex-Im Banks’ chairman and president, said he hopes the Senate can clear an impasse during the next few months affecting a backlog of loan applications totaling some $20 billion at the Washington-based institution, which finances U.S. exports. The bank has run into stiff opposition from critics who characterize as “corporate welfare” its support for U.S. exporters such as Boeing Co. Last year, the bank’s operations were suspended after House Republicans stopped Congress from voting on a reauthorization measure before its charter expired last July. In December, large majorities in both chambers voted to renew its lapsed charter. But Sen. Richard Shelby (R., Ala.), the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, has blocked the confirmation of a board member, depriving the bank of the quorum needed to approve deals exceeding $10 million.