Ex-Im Bank Stalemate Threatens Lucrative Boeing Satellite Deal

Reuters has a story about the impact of a Congressional stalemate over whether to re-authorize the Export-Import Bank:

Boeing Co (BA.N) is scrambling to find alternate financing for a satellite contract worth “several hundred million dollars” that was scuttled by privately held commercial satellite provider ABS due to uncertainty about the future of the U.S. Export-Import Bank, three sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

ABS, based in Bermuda and Hong Kong, terminated its order for the satellite in mid-July, citing the expiration of the trade bank’s charter on June 30, according to the sources, who asked not to be named given the sensitivity of the issue.

The termination marks the first known casualty of the ongoing congressional debate over the future of the trade bank, which lends money to U.S. exporters and their foreign customers.

ABS told Boeing, the largest U.S. exporter, that it would have to consider non-U.S.-based producers to build ABS-8, given the absence of U.S. export credit financing, the sources said.