U.S. lawmakers sadly missed an important opportunity to support America’s manufacturing sector by failing to act before the June 30 deadline to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank,
General Aviation Manufacturers Association President and CEO Pete Bunce said this week.
At the stroke of midnight on Tuesday, the Bank became unable to issue any new guarantees. The 81-year-old Bank provides the loan guarantees manufacturers need when commercial
banks will not or cannot provide financing to allow them to close transactions with
non-U.S. buyers.
“U.S. manufacturing is the backbone of the nation’s economy, supporting millions of jobs and communities throughout the country, and manufacturing exports are an important part of this
success,” Bunce said. “For general aviation manufacturing, 50 percent of aircraft deliveries are outside the United States in any given year.
“Aircraft manufacturers and their entire supply chain - from engines and avionics manufacturers down to small businesses that perform metal forging and fabricating - benefit from the
Export-Import Bank, which has provided more than $1.9bn in financing guarantees to U.S. general aviation manufacturers since 2012 and returned funds to the U.S. taxpayer,” he
continued.
“Reauthorization will keep manufacturers on a fair, level playing field to compete against businesses in the more than 60 other countries that have their own national export credit agencies
like the Export-Import Bank.
“While we appreciate the strong support we have received from many members of Congress, it remains truly baffling why some members would want to debilitate U.S. manufacturers by
not reauthorizing the Bank, particularly when there are challenging headwinds in export markets, including the strong dollar. Congress needs to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank as
soon as they return to Washington,” Bunce concluded.
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