EXPORT-IMPORT BANK/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration is moving to bring back to life a long-hobbled agency that smooths export deals between U.S. manufacturers and overseas buyers, potentially ending a three-year freeze that has held up more than $40 billion of export deals. The White House is expected to soon nominate Kimberly Reed to fill the top position at the U.S. Export-Import Bank. Ms. Reed would follow the administration’s prior nominee, former congressman Scott Garrett, who was rejected by a Senate committee in December. Ms. Reed’s nomination would be a victory for the business-friendly faction of the GOP and for large U.S. manufacturers such as Boeing Co. and General Electric Co. Such companies rely on the agency to complete export deals and successfully opposed Mr. Garrett. By turning to Ms. Reed, a former Treasury Department staffer during the George W. Bush administration, the White House is backing a nominee for the bank who thinks the Ex-Im Bank’s role is essential for the U.S. to counter foreign governments that operate their own export-finance agencies. At her nomination hearing late last year for a less-senior post at the bank, she said not having a functional export-finance agency amounted to ‘unilateral disarmament.’”
-Andrew Ackerman, “White House, In Shift, Pushes to Revive U.S. Export-Import Bank,” The Wall Street Journal, June 14, 2018 5:32 am