Washington, DC—U.S. lawmakers sadly missed an important opportunity to support America’s manufacturing sector by failing to act before the June 30 deadline to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank (Bank), General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) President and CEO Pete Bunce said today. At the stroke of midnight, the Bank will no longer be permitted to issue any new guarantees. The 81-year-old Bank provides the loan guarantees manufacturers need when commercial banks will not or cannot provide financing to allow them to close transactions with non-U.S. buyers.

“U.S. manufacturing is the backbone of the nation’s economy, supporting millions of jobs and communities throughout the country, and manufacturing exports are an important part of this success,” Bunce said. “For general aviation manufacturing, 50 percent of aircraft deliveries are outside the United States in any given year.

“Aircraft manufacturers and their entire supply chain—from engines and avionics manufacturers down to small businesses that perform metal forging and fabricating—benefit from the Export-Import Bank, which has provided more than $1.9 billion in financing guarantees to U.S. general aviation manufacturers since 2012 and returned funds to the U.S. taxpayer,” Bunce continued. “Reauthorization will keep manufacturers on a fair, level playing field to compete against businesses in the more than 60 other countries that have their own national export credit agencies like the Export-Import Bank.

“While we appreciate the strong support we have received from many members of Congress, it remains truly baffling why some members would want to debilitate U.S. manufacturers by not reauthorizing the Bank, particularly when there are challenging headwinds in export markets, including the strong dollar. Congress needs to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank as soon as they return to Washington,” Bunce concluded.