Numbers Don’t Lie: The Ex-Im Bank Works

IAM Chief of Staff and Director of Trade and Globalization Owen Herrnstadt lauds a bipartisan bill reauthorizing the Ex-Im Bank during a news conference on Capitol Hill.

The U.S. Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank is a good deal for American workers and their tax dollars, according to newly-released figures from the independent lending agency.

In 2015, the Ex-Im Bank supported $17 billion in U.S. exports and 109,000 U.S. jobs, according to its 2015 Annual Report. The Ex-Im Bank also added over $430 million to the U.S. Treasury for debt reduction.

The Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal credit agency that issues loans to foreign buyers of U.S. made exports, including aircraft built by IAM members. Without the bank, foreign companies and government are more likely to purchase exports from competitors.

The 2015 report also highlighted the benefits the bank has on small businesses in the U.S., with 90 percent of transactions directly supporting small businesses, including more than $3.1 billion in exports.

The ability of the bank to issue new loans had been on hold since July 2015 after right-wing members of Congress targeted it for extinction. After much lobbying pressure from the IAM and allies in the labor and business communities, a bipartisan bill to reauthorize the Ex-Im Bank passed both houses of Congress and was signed into law by President Obama in December.

WATCH: The Ex-Im Bank is Back in Business

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