09.10.15

New Ticker Tracking Number of American Jobs, Export Revenue and Treasury Returns Lost Due to Republican Inaction on Ex-Im Bank

Since July 1st, Nearly 43,000 American Jobs and More Than $7.5 Billion in Revenue and $116 million in Treasury Returns Could Have Been Created

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), and Senate Democrats unveiled a live ticker tracking the number of potential American jobs and amount of revenue that could have been created in the two months since the GOP caved to the demands of the Tea Party and let the Export-Import Bank’s charter expire. The ticker tracks the loss of Ex-Im capital US small businesses have historically relied on to finance their exports, and the jobs supported by these Ex-Im financed businesses. The ticker also sums the current loss of profits Ex-Im would be sending back to the US Treasury if its charter was reauthorized, currently totaling more than $7.5 billion. The live ticker can be viewed at http://democrats.senate.gov/exim/.

Since 2009, Ex-Im has supported over 1.3 million private sector jobs and 164,000 in FY 2014 alone. On average, 7,400 U.S. jobs are created by every $1 billion supported worth of exports supported by the Bank, which totaled $27.5 billion in FY 2014. Small business exports represented $10.7 billion of total exports and over 80,000 jobs. In fact, 90 percent of Ex-Im’s transactions in 2014 directly supported small businesses.

In Washington State, the Export-Import Bank supported 820,569 jobs, 154 small businesses, and $135 billion in exports since FY2007.

“Small business owners in Washington state and across the nation, who rely on this agency to reach global markets, are stunned that a few conservative members of the House can hold American businesses hostage and put jobs at risk to push their political agenda,” said Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA). “From local breweries and sheet metal factories to small high-tech businesses, the Ex-Im Bank helps put American products in markets across the globe.  It’s time we put American jobs and businesses before an extreme conservative agenda – it’s time to reauthorize the Ex-Im bank.”

“For decades, the Export-Import Bank has successfully helped grow American businesses and jobs at no additional cost to taxpayers – but unfortunately, that growth has been hijacked by a small minority in Congress,” said Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND). “Despite that the agency has strong bipartisan support in the Senate and House – and passed overwhelmingly in the Senate – the House of Representatives left for the month of August without even bringing it up for a vote. As a result, we’ve watched thousands of good American jobs and billions in revenue fall by the wayside as American businesses lose out to foreign competitors like India and China. It’s past time for the House to put politics aside and pass my bipartisan bill to help support American workers and our economy.”

Small Business exporters rely on the financing tools, certainty and backup provided by the Ex-Im Bank when trying to sell American products in foreign markets where there is limited access to commercial lending. The bank also helps level the playing field for American businesses, since overseas competitors are backed by export banks of their own- some as large as 18 times the size of the U.S. Ex-Im Bank. In addition, China is engaging in currency manipulation and direct subsidies that is already widening our goods trade deficit with them. While other countries can respond with their export credit banks, American companies are left stranded without Ex-Im.

If reauthorized, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the Export-Import Bank will generate approximately $14 billion in revenue for the federal government over the next ten years. Ex-Im has generated over $7 billion more than the cost of its operations over the past two decades and has a historically low default rate of 0.175 %. In 2014 alone, Ex-Im sent $674.7 million to the U.S. Treasury to help reduce the federal deficit.

 

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