Feb 4 (Reuters) - Senators will introduce legislation on Wednesday to reauthorize funding for the United States Export-Import Bank for the next decade, as lawmakers try to inject an extra $70 billion into the agency to support U.S. President Donald Trump's critical minerals push, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.
Kevin Cramer, a Republican senator from North Dakota is co-sponsoring the reauthorization legislation with Democrat Mark Warner, the report said. Cramer told the FT that Trump was
"all in" on funding the Ex-Im Bank, adding that the U.S. President "sees the value" of the institution.
Cramer also told the newspaper that he would advocate for Ex-Im's lending cap to be lifted from $135 billion to $205 billion as part of the reauthorization package, stating that "The Export-Import Bank makes some un-doable deals doable. I think the president, as a matter of business acumen, understands that."
The White House, the U.S. Export-Import Bank, and spokespersons for senators Kevin Cramer and Mark Warner did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.
The United States will host more than 50 countries on Wednesday for talks aimed at boosting their access to critical minerals, in a bid to loosen China's grip over vital industrial inputs that has allowed it to control global supply chains.
The talks come after Trump on Monday launched a strategic stockpile of critical minerals, called Project Vault, backed by $10 billion in seed funding from the U.S. Export-Import Bank and $2 billion in private funding.
(Reporting by Gursimran Kaur in Bengaluru, Editing by Louise Heavens)
