Feb 4 (Reuters) – Senators will introduce legislation on Wednesday to reauthorize funding for the United States Export-Import Bank for the next decade, as lawmakers try to inject an extra $70 billion into the agency to support U.S. President Donald Trump’s critical minerals push, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.
Kevin Cramer, a Republican senator from North Dakota, is co-sponsoring the reauthorization legislation with Democrat Mark Warner of Virginia, the report said. Cramer told the FT that Trump was “all in” on funding the Ex-Im Bank, adding that the president “sees the value” of the institution.
Cramer also told the newspaper that he would advocate for Ex-Im’s lending cap to be lifted from $135 billion to $205 billion as part of the reauthorization package, stating that “The Export-Import Bank makes some un-doable deals doable. I think the president, as a matter of business acumen, understands that.”
“Renewing the Export-Import Bank is critical for Virginia businesses to stay viable in a global economy with China and other foreign competitors,” Warner told Reuters in an emailed statement, emphasizing that the bipartisan bill will protect American jobs and provide stability for small businesses and manufacturers, while helping secure the country’s economic and national security.
The White House, the U.S. Export-Import Bank, and a spokesperson for Cramer did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
The United States will host more than 50 countries on Wednesday for talks aimed at boosting their access to critical minerals, in a bid to loosen China’s grip over vital industrial inputs that has allowed it to control global supply chains.
The talks come after Trump on Monday launched a strategic stockpile of critical minerals, called Project Vault, backed by $10 billion in seed funding from the U.S. Export-Import Bank and $2 billion in private funding.
(Reporting by Gursimran Kaur in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Heera Hari, Editing by Louise Heavens and Chizu Nomiyama )
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