Boeing, GE Vernova, Lockheed Back 10-Year EXIM Reauthorization

China provided an estimated $24 billion in medium- and long-term export credit support in 2024 — more than four times the volume officially supported by the United States, according to a coalition of major American companies and business associations urging Congress to pass a robust, long-term reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM).

The coalition, which includes The Boeing Company, GE Vernova, Lockheed Martin, RTX, Ford Motor Company, Cisco Systems, Dow, Siemens Energy, Westinghouse Electric Company, Toyota Motor North America and hundreds of chambers of commerce across the country, made its case in an open letter to members of the United States Congress. EXIM's current authorization is scheduled to expire this year.

The letter's signatories frame export financing as a tool of statecraft, noting that more than 115 foreign export credit agencies actively support their national exporters. China, they argue, is deploying state-backed financing most aggressively in strategic industries — commercial aviation, advanced energy and nuclear technologies, and heavy manufacturing — to secure long-term commercial and geopolitical advantages.

"For many American companies—whether small businesses or larger manufacturers and their supplier networks—EXIM's financing tools are the difference between winning and losing a deal, expanding operations or shutting doors, and hiring workers or risking American jobs," the letter states.

The Numbers Behind the Pitch

The coalition leans on EXIM's recent performance to argue the Bank earns its keep. In fiscal year 2025 alone, EXIM authorized $8.7 billion in transactions supporting approximately 40,000 American jobs, according to the letter. More than 87 percent of those transactions directly supported small businesses.

The Bank has also been a revenue generator, not a drain: since 1992, EXIM has returned a net $9.8 billion to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the signatories say, while maintaining a low default rate and collecting fees and interest from borrowers.

Four Specific Asks

The letter does not settle for a simple extension. It lays out four concrete demands for lawmakers:

1. A 10-year reauthorization. The coalition wants a decade-long mandate to provide long-term certainty and let EXIM meet demand for trade financing that fills critical gaps and levels the global playing field.

2. Protection against board quorum lapses. EXIM has repeatedly been unable to approve large transactions because it lacked a quorum of Senate-confirmed board members. The signatories urge Congress to strengthen and streamline provisions enacted to ensure operational stability.

3. A stronger China program. The coalition calls for reinforcing the China and Transformational Exports Program (CTEP) so it stays aligned with evolving strategic, technological and geoeconomic competition, and so EXIM has the authorities, flexibility and capacity to counter extensive state-backed financing from China and other competitors.

4. A revised default cap. The letter asks lawmakers to "strategically revise" what it calls an overly restrictive default cap to better align EXIM's risk appetite with global competitors. The goal, the signatories write, is to eliminate the structural disincentive to supporting key strategic sectors while maintaining safeguards, oversight, audits and heightened reporting requirements during periods of portfolio stress.

The Stakes

The breadth of the coalition signals how widely EXIM financing cuts across the U.S. economy. Beyond the aerospace and defense heavyweights, signatories span nuclear technology firms (Oklo, Nano Nuclear Energy, Centrus Energy, BWX Technologies, Holtec International), advanced materials and equipment makers, agricultural interests, services coalitions and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. State-level chambers from Alabama to Wyoming add regional weight, including the Greater Houston Partnership, the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce.

The timing argument is explicit. With authorization lapsing this year, the signatories write, lawmakers must "send a strong and unambiguous signal to global customers and competitors alike" that the Bank remains a durable instrument of U.S. trade policy, giving American companies the stability needed to plan, invest and compete with confidence.

"At a time of intensifying global competition, Congress has the opportunity to strengthen American competitiveness, support U.S. workers, and reaffirm America's economic leadership through a long-term and robust reauthorization of EXIM," the letter concludes. "We urge you to seize this opportunity on behalf of our nation's workers, manufacturers, exporters, and job creators."

If Congress does not act before the deadline, U.S. exporters — from small suppliers to Boeing — will lose a financing tool the coalition says often decides who wins deals in markets where foreign governments bankroll their own champions.