Manufacturers in Connecticut are among those who say they’ll suffer with the expiry of the federal Export-Import bank. There are more than a hundred companies in Connecticut that use the services of the federal agency, known as the Ex-Im bank.
General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt said the expiry could mean tough choices for GE.
The bank finances transactions for customers overseas who want to purchase US-made goods, thus underwriting deals that might not otherwise happen. Or at least it did until midnight last night, when its charter expired — allowed to die by Republicans in congress who object to using taxpayer money for something they say the free market should do.
General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt recently asked why the US is the only developed nation which is allowing its export credit financing agency to die. He said the expiry could mean tough choices for GE.
"Because we're not going to lose this business, we'll build these products in places where export credit financing is available -- because we have to," he said in a speech. "What happens then? Good GE jobs in the United States will be moved to Canada and Europe. That's mighty high price to pay for ideological purity."
Congresswoman Rosa deLauro also spoke out over the bank’s fate this week, visiting another of its customers, APS Technology in Wallingford - that company says the bank has allowed it to export $1.2 million worth of goods in the last five years.
