BRUNSWICK, GEORGIA – A strong movement among Republican politicians in the US Congress threatens the future of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, a member of Congress told the 47th Annual Georgia Foreign Trade Conference here.

“There is a strong movement among the far right to do away with it,” said Earl L Carter, a Georgia Republican. “There is strong interest in allowing that authorization to expire.”

The Ex-Im Bank promotes US exports by financing and insuring sales of US-made goods to international buyers who are unable to finance obtain financing on their own. Such financing is intended to create transactions which would not otherwise take place.

Without action by Congress, the Ex-Im Bank’s present charter will expire on June 30.

“Is the business [that comes from Ex-Im Bank financing] going to go away with the Ex-Im Bank, or will it continue on?” Carter asked his audience.

At a January 2015 meeting in New Delhi between US president Barack Obama and Indian president Narendra Modi, Obama announced that the Ex-Im Bank will finance US$1 billion of ‘Made-in-America’ products in 2015.

– Gregory Glass