(Defense News, Washington, 20 June 2017) U.S. President Donald Trump has formally nominated former members of Congress, Scott Garrett and Spencer Bachus, to two vacant positions on the U.S. Export-Import bank as expected, a win for the defense and aerospace sector. Trump announced the move in April — a reversal after calling the federal government’s export credit agency “excess baggage” in 2015. Though the Heritage Foundation and some free-market conservatives have criticized the Ex-Im Bank as subsidizing foreign competitors of U.S. firms, the Aerospace Industries Association, touted it as vital to small- and medium-size companies. Among the largest export beneficiaries of the bank’s financial assistance have been Boeing and General Electric, which have overseas customers that use the agencies’ government-backed loans to buy their products.
