Charleston, SC, Now Boasts East Coast’s Deepest Harbor
House Votes to Renew Export-Import Bank Charter Over GOP Opposition
November 18, 2019 by Dan McCue
WASHINGTON – The House voted on Friday to renew the charter of the Export-Import Bank, the U.S. agency that provides loans and other help to foreign buyers of U.S. exports, despite opposition from Republican lawmakers.
Despite the bank having historically enjoyed strong bipartisan support, only 13 Republican House members joined Democrats in endorsing the measure.
The most recent authorization of the bank expired at the end of September with the close of the government’s fiscal year, but was temporarily renewed via a stopgap spending bill through Dec. 20.
Shortly before the vote, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Senate would not pass the House bill, preferring to maintain funding for the bank through a larger government spending bill.
The White House has also said that should the Senate take up the measure, it would be vetoed when it reached the president’s desk.
The measure passed in the House, H.R. 4863, would reauthorize the bank for ten years, increases its lending authority to $175 billion, and create procedures to avoid a lapse in the Board’s quorum.
It includes new provisions to extend more financing to small businesses, provisions to assist minority- and women-owned businesses, and pro-environmental provisions to support renewable energy exports.
Supporters of the bank, including most Democrats and the GOP’s establishment wing, said foreign governments unfairly subsidize domestic companies and that the bank helps level the playing field.
Among those who endorsed the measure was the New Democrat Coalition. Coalition members serve as a key block in the House Financial Services Committee, and as part of that panel, coalition member Rep. Denny Heck, D-Wash., played a key role in ensuring the bank’s reauthorization had both business and labor support.
Heck said in a statement that he considered reauthorizing the bank to be one of his top priorities since he arrived in Congress in 2013.
“Not only will this reauthorization bill help small businesses compete in global markets, but it will enable the U.S. to continue to be a country that is home to the most advanced manufacturing in the world,” he said.
In the same statement, New Democrat Coalition Chair Derek Kilmer said the bank is “an essential tool in the trade toolbox that helps enable American-made products to be sold around the world and supports the growth of our local jobs.”
A 2015 measure reauthorizing the bank won a sweeping bipartisan vote in a GOP-controlled Congress after establishment Republicans prevailed over GOP tea party forces.
However, the bank effectively languished without a quorum until this spring when the Senate confirmed a slate of nominees that allowed the bank to process larger transactions.
Among the changes sought by Republicans were provisions to ban the bank from dealing with state-owned enterprises in China and Russia and increased focus on helping small businesses benefit from the bank’s activities.
A+
a-
In The News
Health
Voting
Trade
December 6, 2022
by Dan McCue
Charleston, SC, Now Boasts East Coast’s Deepest Harbor
CHARLESTON, S.C. — With the successful completion of a $580 million harbor-deepening project, Charleston Harbor is now the deepest harbor... Read More
CHARLESTON, S.C. — With the successful completion of a $580 million harbor-deepening project, Charleston Harbor is now the deepest harbor on the U.S. East Coast at 52 feet. The new depth means the biggest cargo ships currently in service can now access the state’s port terminals... Read More
December 5, 2022
by TWN
Philip Morris International Taking Proactive Role to Help Consumers Know, Fight Illegal Trade
WASHINGTON — Illegal trade isn’t good. It’s not good for companies who depend on the revenue from their products to... Read More
WASHINGTON — Illegal trade isn’t good. It’s not good for companies who depend on the revenue from their products to expand and add jobs, and it’s certainly not good for the consumers who unknowingly shell out considerable sums of money for knockoffs that ultimately fall far... Read More
December 5, 2022
by Dan McCue
Investigation Finds Four Firms Evading Anti-Dumping Rules on Chinese Solar Panels
WASHINGTON — An investigation by the U.S. Commerce Department has found that four companies have been sending their products through... Read More
WASHINGTON — An investigation by the U.S. Commerce Department has found that four companies have been sending their products through Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia in order to circumvent regulations aimed at curtailing the dumping of cheap Chinese solar cells and modules on the U.S. market. The... Read More
October 18, 2022
by US Businesses Propose Hiding Trade Data Used to Trace Abuse
US Businesses Propose Hiding Trade Data Used to Trace Abuse
A group of major U.S. businesses wants the government to hide key import data -- a move trade experts say... Read More
A group of major U.S. businesses wants the government to hide key import data -- a move trade experts say would make it more difficult for Americans to link the products they buy to labor abuse overseas. The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee is made up of executives... Read More
July 22, 2022
by Dan McCue
US, Canada Demand Talks Over Mexican Energy Policies
WASHINGTON — Just days after the second anniversary of the USMCA trade agreement, two of its three signers, the U.S.... Read More
WASHINGTON — Just days after the second anniversary of the USMCA trade agreement, two of its three signers, the U.S. and Canada, are demanding dispute settlement talks with the third, Mexico, over domestic energy policies they say are undermining cross-border supplies. The request, first announced by... Read More
July 22, 2022
by Kate Michael
Copper Shortage Could Stymie Net-Zero Energy Goals
WASHINGTON — A shortage of one essential material could curtail America’s transition to new sources of clean energy according to... Read More
WASHINGTON — A shortage of one essential material could curtail America’s transition to new sources of clean energy according to a new report from S&P Global. The world’s copper supply is unlikely to be able to meet demand for all of the new technologies critical to... Read More
News From The Well
