Critics call it “the Bank of Boeing,” but the U.S. Export-Import Bank is the bank of small business as well as corporate giants.
Small businesses make up 90 percent of the federal credit agency’s client base. President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the bank 80 years ago to provide credit insurance, guarantees, and capital for U.S. businesses that want to export their products. Today, it’s a rare species in Washington — a federal agency that makes money.
Congress appropriates $100 million a year for its operation, but the Export-Import Bank, called “Ex-Im,” has been self-sustaining since 2008. Last year, it returned nearly $675 million to the U.S. Treasury. The overage comes from fees.
You’d think Capitol Hill would welcome any agency that turns a profit, but critics accuse the bank of “crony capitalism” and say it benefits a few at the expense of the many. Last year, when its charter was set to expire, the bank escaped extinction with a reprieve that ends on June 30.
The bank is threatened again: Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R., Texas) is chairman of the House committee that oversees the bank — and an Ex-Im opponent.
The president of the Export-Import Bank, Fred Hochberg, seems to argue against the bank’s existence when he says its total financing decreased in 2013 as the economy rebounded — “proof that the private sector is once again stepping up and supporting jobs.” He rightly notes, however, that you don’t close the fire station just because there hasn’t been a fire in five years.
Most other countries help their businesses and workers in similar ways; there are 60 such entities worldwide. Shutting the Export-Import Bank would be illogical at any time, and insane when it’s generating millions of dollars for federal coffers. Congress should renew its charter.
First Published January 28, 2015, 5:00 a.m.