ExIm bank charter revived by US House of Representatives

In an eagerly anticipated outcome, the House of Representatives has passed a five-year bill that will not only see the provision of funding for America’s roads, bridges and transport systems but also, crucially, the revival of a charter for the US Export-Import Bank which expired midnight, June 30th this year. Between then and now the bank has been operating under a temporary extension of the charter, but the bank’s uncertain future was already having a damaging effect on overseas borrowers keen to acquire US-built assets. Ethiopian Airlines had already expressed their concern in September over its capability of taking delivery of Boeing jets without financial support from ExIm.
The House voted 359 to 65 to send the US$305 billion legislation to the Senate and it is anticipated it will be approved and forwarded to the White House for President Barack Obama’s signature in advance of Friday’s end to the temporary extension. Unsurprisingly, despite the bi-partisan result, the 65 ‘no’ votes all came from the Republicans.
The new legislation will permit ExIm to become fully-functional again with confirmation of the charter’s renewal up until September 30th 2019, though there will be a number of associated reforms, including a reduction of the lending limit.
On hearing the news, Boeing’s President and CEO, Dennis Muilenburg, issued the following statement: “By reopening the Export-Import Bank, Congress has taken strong action enabling American exporters and the skilled workers they employ to compete successfully in tough global markets. We commend the bipartisan majorities in both the House and the Senate that recognized the Ex-Im Bank’s value to the U.S. economy by voting several times in recent months to reauthorize. With these votes, Congress did the right thing for workers at companies large and small across the nation, including the 1.5 million workers at nearly 15,000 U.S. companies that help Boeing design, make and support America’s aerospace exports.”