Why the Ex-Im Bank is Critical for Manufacturers
The Ex-Im Bank helps U.S. manufacturers compete for deals around the world.
In May, the U.S. Senate voted to confirm President Donald Trump’s nominees to the Export-Import Bank board. The board now has a quorum for the first time in four years, allowing it once again to consider deals larger than $10 million. Manufacturers’ attention now turns to securing congressional reauthorization of the Ex-Im Bank.
NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons explains what’s at stake.
The NAM is leading the fight for Ex-Im Bank reauthorization. Start with the basics. What does that mean?
Later this year, Congress will have to vote on whether to keep the Ex-Im Bank open and authorize it to continue helping manufacturers in the United States compete for deals around the world.
Why does the Ex-Im Bank matter so much to manufacturers?
It’s a vital tool to support manufacturing jobs in the United States. The Ex-Im Bank has supported 2.5 million jobs since 2000. Typically, more than 90 percent of the Ex-Im Bank’s transactions directly support small businesses.
And here’s something that’s really impressive — the Ex-Im Bank has generated $9.6 billion for taxpayers since 1992. It’s a government agency that makes money!
Other countries are running nearly 100 other export credit agencies. So, if we don’t have the Ex-Im Bank, we are at a big disadvantage.
You mention “export credit agencies.” You mean other countries have their own versions of the Ex-Im Bank?
Exactly. And they use those agencies to lure manufacturers to their countries, support their own manufacturers and steal manufacturing jobs away from the United States. That’s not going to change. So, we can “disarm” ourselves here in the United States and let other countries like China have the advantage. Or we can support the Ex-Im Bank.
So this all comes back to China?
Definitely. It helps level the playing field for manufacturers in the United States to compete with China, as well as other countries.
Two of China’s export credit agencies provided $45 billion in medium- and long-term investment support for projects around the world, more than the rest of the world combined. That’s what we have to compete against.
What can manufacturing workers or manufacturing supporters do to make a difference?
Contact your senators and representatives. Tell them to support the Ex-Im Bank and reauthorize it. Let them know that supporting the Ex-Im Bank is supporting American manufacturing workers.
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Manufacturers Unveil Competitiveness Agenda Ahead of Midterm Elections
“Competing to Win” offers a path for bringing the country together around policies, shared values and a unified purpose
Washington, D.C. – Ahead of the midterm elections, the National Association of Manufacturers released its policy roadmap, “Competing to Win,” a comprehensive blueprint featuring immediate solutions for bolstering manufacturers’ competitiveness. It is also a roadmap for policymakers on the laws and regulations needed to strengthen the manufacturing industry in the months and years ahead.
With the country facing rising prices, snarled supply chains and geopolitical turmoil, manufacturers are outlining an actionable competitiveness agenda that Americans across the political spectrum can support. “Competing to Win” includes the policies manufacturers in America will need in place to continue driving the country forward.
“‘Competing to Win’ offers a path for bringing our country together around policies, shared values and a unified purpose,” said NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons. “The NAM is putting forward a plan filled with ideas that policymakers could pursue immediately, including solutions to urgent problems, such as energy security, immigration reform, supply chain disruptions, the ongoing workforce shortage and more. Manufacturers have shown incredible resilience through difficult times, employing more workers now than before the pandemic, but continued resilience is not guaranteed without the policies that are critical to the state of manufacturing in America.”
The NAM and its members will leverage “Competing to Win” to shape policy debates ahead of the midterm elections, in the remainder of the 117th Congress and at the start of the 118th Congress—including in direct engagement with lawmakers, for grassroots activity, across traditional and digital media and through events in key states and districts as we did following the initial rollout of the roadmap in 2016.
The document focuses on 12 areas of action, and all policies are rooted in the values that have made America exceptional and keep manufacturing strong: free enterprise, competitiveness, individual liberty and equal opportunity.
Learn more about how manufacturers are leading and about the industry’s competitiveness agenda at nam.org/competing-to-win.
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The National Association of Manufacturers is the largest manufacturing association in the United States, representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all 50 states. Manufacturing employs more than 12.8 million men and women, contributes $2.77 trillion to the U.S. economy annually and accounts for 58% of private-sector research and development. The NAM is the powerful voice of the manufacturing community and the leading advocate for a policy agenda that helps manufacturers compete in the global economy and create jobs across the United States. For more information about the NAM or to follow us on Twitter and Facebook, please visit www.nam.org
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