President Trump has apparently changed his mind on another important trade issue, coming out in favor of extending the life of the U.S. Government’s Export-Import Bank, which has been denounced by conservatives as corporate welfare. Trump told voters during the election campaign that he would oppose the Ex-Im Bank because he regarded it as “featherbedding” for politicians and large corporations. But Trump apparently reversed course during a luncheon this week with a bipartisan group of Congressional leaders. Trump “wants to get that done,” Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, told Politico after the meeting with the President. I’ve seen how it functions and what it can do and we can’t compete if we don’t have a functioning Ex-Im Bank.’”Trump made the issue of increasing exports and American jobs a central issue of his campaign.

Source: Forbes February 11, 2017 14:16 UTC