Starting today, the Export-Import Bank can't offer new loans to foreign customers.
The bank helps American companies sell their goods overseas when regular banks won’t take on the risk. Congress did not reauthorize the 80-year-old bank before leaving for the Fourth of July recess, allowing it to expire.
At a town hall meeting Tuesday near Grand Rapids, Republican Congressman Justin Amash told the standing-room-only crowd he’s happy it was allowed to expire. Amash said he was working on legislation that would end the bank.
“You essentially back the loan for a foreign company so that they can buy stuff from Boeing,” Amash told the crowd. “It’s corporate welfare.”
Amash, a Republican, says he’s surprised some Democrats support the bank.
Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, who visited Grand Rapids a couple weeks ago, warned of job losses without the bank.
