1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the “United States Export Finance Agency Act of 2019”.
United States Export Finance Agency Act of 2019
A BILL
To strengthen the competitiveness of the United States, to modernize and reform the United States Export Finance Agency, and for other purposes.
2. Table of contents
The table of contents of this Act is as follows:
3. Findings
The Congress finds as follows:
The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM)—the official export credit agency of the United States—is designed to help create and support U.S. jobs by providing American exporters with the financing tools necessary to compete in the global markets.
Over its 85-year history, under both Republican and Democratic administrations, the Export-Import Bank of the United States has been reauthorized 17 times with large bipartisan majorities in Congress.
Over the last 10 years, the Export-Import Bank of the United States has financed more than $186,000,000,000 in authorizations supporting more than $255,000,000,000 in United States exports and supported 1,600,000 United States jobs in all 50 states; in fiscal year 2018, EXIM authorized $3,300,000,000 in financing and supported an estimated 33,000 United States jobs.
By its charter, it is the policy of the United States that the Export-Import Bank of the United States should not compete with the private sector, but rather to fill export financing gaps through its insurance, loan guarantee, and direct lending programs when the private sector is unable or unwilling to do so.
With more than 100 export credit agencies globally, the Export-Import Bank of the United States, if appropriately utilized, can level the playing field to ensure that United States companies will not lose out on a sale of United States exports because of financing terms offered by foreign governments.
In fiscal year 2018, 90.5 percent of the Export-Import Bank of the United States’ authorizations directly supported small businesses, including 315 small businesses that used the Export-Import Bank of the United States for the first time.
In fiscal year 2014, when the Export-Import Bank of the United States was last fully operational, EXIM authorized $751,000,000 to support minority- and women-owned business exports.
In fiscal year 2018, the Export-Import Bank of the United States approved $451,400,000 in support of minority- or woman-owned businesses, which accounted for 21 percent of total small business authorizations.
The charter of the Export-Import Bank of the United States requires the Bank to lend only if there exists reasonable assurance that it will be repaid, and Congress subjects EXIM to statutory restrictions and oversight to safeguard its fiscal soundness, limit mismanagement, and prevent corruption.
EXIM was last reauthorized in December 2015, and its charter expires September 30, 2019.
Despite bicameral support for the Bank’s reauthorization in 2015, the Senate did not confirm the directors of EXIM until May 2019. As a result, the Bank did not have a quorum and could not approve transactions over $10,000,000.
4. Renaming of the Export-Import Bank of the United States
In general— The Export-Import Bank of the United States is hereby redesignated as the United States Export Finance Agency.
References— Any reference to the Export-Import Bank of the United States in any law, rule, regulation, certificate, directive, instruction, or other official paper in force on the date of the enactment of this Act shall be considered to refer and apply to the United States Export Finance Agency.