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Export-Import Bank subsidizes exports, but doesn’t actually increase exports

By Timothy P. Carney
Published July 17, 2019 3:23am ET
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Export-Import Bank subsidizes exports, but doesn’t actually increase exports
In this photo taken on Aug. 5, 2010, a container are being load into a cargo ship at the Tianjin port in China. China's exports grew strongly in July but import growth fell as its rapid economic expansion cooled, possibly hurting global demand. Exports rose 38.1 percent over a year ago to $145.5 billion while imports gained 22.7 percent to $116.8 billion, the customs agency reported Tuesday. Export growth eased from June's 43.9 percent rate while import growth tumbled from June's 34.1 percent expansion. | (Andy Wong/AP)

Corporate lobbyists, Democratic lawmakers, and Wall Street-type Republicans will all tell you that the U.S. Export-Import Bank helps U.S. companies export. They’ll castigate subsidy opponents as free-market ideologues who don’t care about actual U.S. companies.

But here’s the thing: The best economic research debunks all of their arguments.

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Export-Import Bank Trade