Reforms Proposed for U.S. Ex-Im Bank Garner Multilateral Support
The House of Representatives passed a bill to extend the charter of the Ex-Im Bank.
Ex-Im Bank reauthorization would maintain, for now, government loan guarantees for certain customers of Boeing widebodies such as the 787. (Photo: Boeing)
Ex-Im Bank reauthorization would maintain, for now, government loan guarantees for certain customers of Boeing widebodies such as the 787. (Photo: Boeing)

In at least a symbolic gesture to Delta Air Lines and the Air Line Pilots Association, a bill passed on May 9 by the U.S. House of Representatives to extend the charter of the country’s Ex-Im Bank calls for the U.S. Treasury Department to negotiate with other governments toward eliminating state-backed loan guarantees for exports, including widebody aircraft sales. At the same time, to the apparent delight of Boeing, the bill calls for an increase in the lending cap from $100 billion to $140 billion by 2014. Still, it drew praise from trade groups such as Airlines for America (A4A), which last year unsuccessfully sued the Ex-Im Bank in an effort to halt a loan guarantee to Air India.