Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, released this fact sheet on the harm that the Trump-Republican shutdown – which Republicans initiated because of their refusal to cancel cuts to healthcare – would pose to small businesses. These healthcare cuts not only endanger the wellbeing of millions of Americans but also increase costs and uncertainty for small business owners and their workers. At the same time, the shutdown threatens the Export-Import Bank (EXIM) which is critical for small businesses. EXIM provides essential financing and risk mitigating tools, such as export credit insurance and working capital guarantees, that enable them to export their goods and services internationally and compete on a level playing field with larger competitors. In doing this, EXIM helps small businesses grow revenue, create American jobs, and strengthen the U.S. economy.

Unfortunately, as a result of the Trump-Republican shutdown, EXIM has furloughed 91% of its staff. This reduction to its already small staff of 324 employees will have a significant effect on its work and on the businesses that rely on its programs.

This means that users of EXIM financing, which are primarily small businesses, will be unable to secure the financing that they need to complete their export sales, which may result in a loss of revenue and a negative effect on American jobs. A lapse in appropriations also affects large U.S. companies, like Boeing, as EXIM suspends all work on transactions, including underwriting and due diligence. Delays will force potential buyers to consider purchasing from foreign companies, such as Airbus.

The loss of sales may also negatively affect companies in U.S. supply chains, including many small businesses, that contribute to the development and manufacture of U.S. exports. EXIM’s inability to carry out core functions could negatively affect the agency’s ability to directly compete with government-supported export financing from other nations, such as the People’s Republic of China, and may put U.S. exports at a significant competitive disadvantage. This is on top of Trump’s disastrous tariffs and the reciprocal tariffs from other countries, which have hit U.S. small business exporters especially hard—forcing the Trump Administration to bail out U.S. farmers with taxpayer dollars while leaving many small businesses to fend for themselves.

Without EXIM’s guarantees, American companies will lose out on contracts that end up going to Chinese or other foreign buyers. To put it plainly, when EXIM is shuttered and forced to operate with a skeleton staff, the U.S. loses a critical tool to counter the People’s Republic of China and support American businesses.

So much for making America great again. This Trump-Republican shutdown isn’t helping American businesses; it’s helping China’s.

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