Export-Import Bank charter expires at midnight

Proponents of the Ex-Im Bank on Capital Hill have already begun lining up to pursue reauthorization of the 81-year-old institution in the coming weeks.    With Congress having already left town this week for their July 4 recess, the United States Export-Import Bank’s charter will expire at midnight.
   However, many lawmakers in both the Senate and House, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, have already given their nod to rescue the 81-year-old Ex-Im bank, eyeing an attachment of the reauthorization to a “must-pass” highway funding bill due later this month.
   Many large industry groups, such as the National Association of Manufacturers and U.S. Chamber of Commerce, also support the bank’s reauthorization as a way for American companies to better compete with their exports in overseas markets. Conservative groups, such as the Heritage Action for America and Club for Growth, on the other hand, have called for the bank’s demise, referring to its operation as a form of “corporate welfare.”
   Meanwhile, through last week, Ex-Im Bank has continued to announce various finance and loan guarantees to various American companies in support of their exports.
   For example, the bank guaranteed a $73 million commercial loan for Acrow Corp. of America to facilitate the export of components for 144 modular steel bridges to the Road Development Agency in Zambia.
   The bridge components will be manufactured at Acrow’s plant in Milton, Pa.
   Acrow’s proposal was chosen over those developed by its European and Chinese counterparts in a market that has historically been the focus of substantial Chinese investment, Ex-Im Bank said.
   The bank will also guarantee Oxnard, Calif.-based Wiggins Lift Co. Inc. medium-term buyer financing valued at $1.4 million via Northstar Trade Finance in Vancouver, British Columbia. The financing will support the export of Wiggins’ forklifts to Brazilian firms BR Marina Group S.A., Marina Verolme S.A. and Marina Porto Bracuhy Ltda. 
   Ex-Im Bank’s Medium Term Delegated Authority (MTDA) program allows the lender to make a commitment based on a set of defined parameters if they agree to share risk. The applications are made through the bank’s online system, and transactions are authorized by the lender. Applications that are determined to be complete are generally made operative within five business days.
   “If Ex-Im Bank’s charter expires, the bank will continue to service all of its commitments and manage its portfolio until maturity, including collecting funds, processing claims and making payments where it is obligated to do so,” a bank spokesman reportedly told CNBC.