The Obama administration and the business lobby defend the Export-Import Bank of the United States by claiming it “makes a profit” for taxpayers. But this “profit” is an accounting fiction, a top federal budget agency recently found.

Ex-Im is a federal agency that subsidizes U.S. exports through direct loans and loan guarantees to foreign countries. Ex-Im’s charter expires this fall, and conservative Republicans want to let the agency die. In its defense, officials at Ex-Im and the White House — joined by lobbyists for manufacturers and banks — typically assert that Ex-Im is free.