If President-elect Trump wants to preserve and protect U.S. manufacturing jobs, one of the easiest and cheapest options he has is to fix the Export-Import Bank. Ex-Im (as it is often called) is America’s official export credit agency, but right now it isn’t firing on all cylinders because its board lacks the quorum required to approve big transactions. As President, Mr. Trump would have at least five compelling reasons to fix this problem. First, every other major trading nation has an export credit agency to help its exporters. Second, Ex-Im Bank doesn’t cost taxpayers a cent; in fact, it makes a profit for the government. Third, thousands of U.S. manufacturing companies depend on Ex-Im to finance overseas sales. Fourth, Ex-Im doesn’t compete with private lenders, but it usually works with them to make deals happen. Finally, Republicans and Democrats alike support Ex-Im — as they demonstrated in December when big bipartisan majorities in both chambers of Congress agreed to reauthorize bank operations through September of 2019. I have written a commentary for Forbes here.
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