What happens when you cross the corporatist Export-Import Bank with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) interests? A toxic, dangerous, and potentially embarrassing situation. For decades, the Swamp has been managing a corporate welfare institution, while executives of the leviathan Ex-Im have advocated on behalf of Beijing. The two issues have intersected, and based on new reporting, a White House nominee to helm the non-bank has been compromised by Red China, working on behalf of the Central Government and the economy’s countless state-run businesses for many years.
China Influence at the Ex-Im Bank?
Reta Jo Lewis
Natalie Winters, a reporter for The National Pulse, published a detailed Sept. 15 article titled “Biden’s Export-Import Bank Nominee Advises Chinese Communists on ‘Access To US Government.’” The piece explored Reta Jo Lewis, a nominee for President and Chair of the Export-Import Bank of the United States. It was discovered that Lewis had partnered with multiple CCP-funded lobbying entities the U.S. government had flagged for pushing American officials into implementing “Beijing’s preferred policies.”
According to the report, Lewis presently serves on the Greater Washington China Investment Center (GWCIC) board, a “public-private partnership designed to help small to mid-sized Chinese companies seeking to go global with a guided entrance to the U.S. market.” The group promises to establish “key connections” for its Chinese clients to “build relationships with key players in both countries who have influence on foreign investment” and “offer access and introductions to city, state and federal leaders in the United States and China.”
It should be noted that the GWCIC website deleted a key offering: “access to U.S. industry and government databases.”
That is not all. Lewis also acts as a Strategic Advisor to the United States Heartland China Association (USHCA), a firm that maintains a close relationship with the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF), a crucial foreign influencer. The primary objective of the USHCA-CUSEF collaboration is to foster a working relationship between the CPP and American farmers.
Moreover, as Liberty Nation reported in Oct. 2020, Chinese-supported businesses have established operations in multiple states across the country, with governors welcoming capital investment and job creation. However, the previous administration warned that these greenfield investments are in alignment with the CCP’s international ambitions. Still, speaking at various USCHA events, The National Pulse noted, Lewis celebrated initiatives put forward by state leaders surrounding employment opportunities and prosperity.
Make China Great Again?
Before former President Donald Trump made “Make America Great Again” the focal point of his campaign, the power brokers in Washington maintained a comparable phrase: Make China Great Again. Many of the key players in the nation’s capital and the typical political maneuvering on Capitol Hill ostensibly placed the Red Dragon as a chief beneficiary. Even throughout America, governors have been accepting Chinese money in exchange for economic growth. Plus, President Joe Biden has been marred with multiple China-related scandals, leading to his critics referring to him as “Beijing Biden.”
Mike Pompeo
(Photo by Joshua Roberts/Getty Images)
Last year, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told state officials in a blunt speech at the National Governors Association: “You are being worked. And, in fact, whether you are viewed by the CCP as friendly or hardline, know that it’s working you, know that it’s working the team around you.” Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) has demanded the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) assess greenfield investments executed by Chinese state-owned enterprises, or SOEs. This is a concerning trend for some because it allows China, that is willing to pour unlimited yuan and resources into money-losing companies, to access U.S. markets, individuals, and technologies.
Of course, it is not only the U.S. that has fallen to the coquettish charms of Beijing. A new probe from investigators at the Washington law firm WilmerHale discovered “data irregularities” that had boosted China’s ranking in the 2018 and 2020 editions of the “Doing Business” report that measures business conditions worldwide, artificially lifting the reputation of the world’s second-largest economy.
And then, there is the inherent problem with the Export-Import Bank.
Subsidizing Corporations and the World
Republicans have been sitting on the fence regarding the Ex-Im Bank. In 2016, the GOP, led by Trump, initially appeared united in either dismantling the institution or reforming it. Eventually, however, it moved to the backburner, and both Republicans and Democrats revived the 90-year-old entity by allowing it to offer loan guarantees for sales and projects valued at more than $10 million. Suffice it to say, low- and middle-income taxpayers finance as much as one-quarter of U.S. goods and services, products that are manufactured by multi-billion-dollar corporations, sold to foreign markets.
Three-time presidential candidate and former Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) wrote in a letter in 2002:
“In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, Eximbank distorts the market by allowing government bureaucrats to make economic decisions in place of individual consumers. Eximbank also violates basic principles of morality, by forcing working Americans to subsidize the trade of wealthy companies that could easily afford to subsidize their own trade, as well as subsidizing brutal governments like Red China and the Sudan. Eximbank also violates the limitations on congressional power to take the property of individual citizens and use it to benefit powerful special interests.”
Indeed, with the current controversy unfolding, the United States is getting the worst of both worlds: a corporatist institution and a possible Chinese influence. Perhaps the nomination will fall through, or maybe this issue will reignite the fire and fury over an easy big government target among the conservatives inside the Republican Party. Whatever the case, this might be a story that should be filed away for future reference and see what happens.
~
Read more from Andrew Moran.
