The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) has urged senators to approve President Trump's four nominees for the board of the US Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank, following the resignation of the last remaining board member, Scott Schloegel.
Jay Timmons, NAM president and ceo, has sent a letter to each member of the US Senate regarding the departure of Scott Schloegel, urging the approval of Spencer Bachus, Judith Pryor, Kimberly Reed and Claudia Slacik.
Timmons wrote: "Since mid-2015, the Ex-Im Bank has been operating well below capacity, unable to consider loans greater than USD10 million. As a result, countries in Europe and beyond have been luring US manufacturers to set up shop overseas to take advantage of foreign export financing because the US system is effectively broken."
According to Timmons, manufacturers want to see the holds on the nominees lifted and action to move the nominations to the floor for consideration as soon as possible.
In autumn 2017, the Senate Banking Committee approved Bachus, Pryor, Reed and Slacik as nominees for the Ex-Im Bank's board. If the four board members were approved by the US Senate, the bank would have the quorum needed to resume reviews and approvals of projects of all sizes.
