Levin Amendment Prioritizing Workers in Ex-Im Bank Reauthorization Passes House

Statement

An amendment to H.R. 4863, a bill to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank, authored by Congressman Andy Levin to give a voice to workers impacted by the bank's financing passed the House of Representatives today.

"International trade is crucial to a strong American economy, but it must go beyond benefitting corporations only," Congressman Andy Levin said. "Today's bill already requires the Export-Import Bank to consult with communities potentially impacted by the projects it finances, and my amendment makes clear that the workers in these communities must be consulted as well. This way, workers will have a voice in the projects that directly affect them."

Congressman Levin's amendment charges the newly-renamed U.S. Export Finance Agency with consulting potentially-impacted workers when financing a project. The amendment also requires the Agency to include the steps taken to consult with impacted workers in its annual report.

The Export-Import Bank is the official export credit agency of the United States. It helps create and sustain American jobs by filling in the gaps in private sector financing for sales of "Made in the USA' products and services to buyers around the world. It does this in two ways: when U.S. exporters are unable to access export financing from private sources, the Bank offers loan guarantees, insurance and access to working capital; if U.S. exporters are disadvantaged by unfair competition from foreign companies that are heavily subsidized by their countries' governments, the Bank helps level the competitive playing field by offering U.S. companies buyer financing.

H.R. 4863, the United States Export Finance Agency Act, would reauthorize the Export-Import Bank for ten years (through 2029), increase the Bank's statutory financing capacity from $135 billion to $175 billion by 2026 and change its name to the "United States Export Finance Agency."

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