NAMBC Chairman Pam Slutz calls EXIM reauthorization top priority
for expansion of US exports of goods & services to Mongolia 

Commenting on the uncertain prospects for Congressional re-authorization of the U.S. Export-Import Bank (EXIM) , Ambassador Pamela Slutz, Chairman of the NAMBC, said, “This should be a no-brainer.” She noted that not only was EXIM financing necessary for Boeing’s recent sale of three new planes with GE engines to MIAT Mongolian Airlines, but also “EXIM is committed to financing US$500 million in U.S. exports for the expansion of the underground mine at Oyu Tolgoi, which alone will support about 2000 jobs in the US.”   

She said, “Maybe some U.S. capital goods sales to Japan, Saudi Arabia, and Western Europe can go forward without EXIM, but for developing countries like Mongolia, if American companies don’t have EXIM backing, they are out of the game.” U.S. companies are actively bidding for crucial Mongolian infrastructure projects, she said, and “the availability of EXIM support is essential.”

EXIM’s current authorization expires September 30 at the end of the current federal fiscal year. Some Members of Congress strongly oppose re-authorization for ideological reasons. “Undoubtedly EXIM can be improved," Ambassador Slutz said, “especially to facilitate more SME exports and to streamline procedures.” But, Ambassador Slutz emphasized, “every other exporting nation has an aggressive, and in some cases even predatory, export finance strategy – that’s the environment in which U.S. companies compete abroad -- so for the United States to terminate EXIM is akin to unilateral disarmament.” 

U.S. citizens interested in expressing their views on EXIM reauthorization, in favor or opposed, can find contact information for their Members of Congress at http://www.contactingthecongress.org/

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