Air Transport Ass'n of America, Inc. v. Export-Import Bank

840 F. Supp. 2d 327, 2012 WL 119557, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5825
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedJanuary 13, 2012
DocketCivil Action No. 11-2024 (JEB)
StatusPublished
Cited by46 cases

This text of 840 F. Supp. 2d 327 (Air Transport Ass'n of America, Inc. v. Export-Import Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Air Transport Ass'n of America, Inc. v. Export-Import Bank, 840 F. Supp. 2d 327, 2012 WL 119557, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5825 (D.D.C. 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

JAMES E. BOASBERG, District Judge.

This case presents a collision of interests between domestic airlines, which seek to avoid competing against subsidized foreign carriers, and domestic aircraft manufacturers, which desire those foreign carriers to buy U.S. planes rather than shopping overseas. Plaintiffs here are organizations representing the interests of certain U.S. airlines and airline pilots. Through this lawsuit and accompanying Motion for Preliminary Injunction, they seek to enjoin the Export-Import Bank of the United States from approving a guaranteed lender for loans it has already committed to a foreign airline, Air India, for the purchase of planes from a U.S. aircraft manufacturer, Boeing. Although the Bank raises serious questions about Plaintiffs’ standing and the justiciability of this suit, the Court need not reach these issues. Because Plaintiffs have not demonstrated a likelihood that they will suffer irreparable harm during the pendency of the lawsuit in the absence of an injunction, the Court will deny their requested relief.

I. Background

A. The Export-Import Bank Act

The Export-Import Bank of the United States is an independent federal agency and corporation originally established by Executive Order in 1934. See 12 U.S.C. §§ 635(a)(1), 635a(a); Exec. Order 6581,12 C.F.R. § 401 (Feb. 2, 1934), reprinted as amended in 12 U.S.C. § 635. In 1945, Congress enacted the Export-Import Bank Act (Bank Act), 79 Cong. Ch. 341, 59 Stat. 526 (1945), which, as amended and codified at 12 U.S.C. § 635 et seq., constitutes the Bank’s Charter. Among the Bank’s functions are to issue “guarantees, insurance, and extension[s] of credit.” 12 U.S.C. § 635(b)(1)(A). In doing so, the Bank seeks to “foster expansion of exports of manufactured goods, agricultural products, and other goods and services, thereby contributing to the promotion and maintenance of high levels of employment and real income, a commitment to reinvestment and job creation, and the increased development of the productive resources of the United States.” Id. Loans and guarantees issued by the Bank carry the full faith and credit of the United States government. Id., § 635k.

Before it authorizes a loan or guarantee, the Bank Act directs the Bank to consider both the financial wisdom of the loan or guarantee, as well as its impact on U.S. industry and employment. The Bank shall only make loans that, “in the judgment of the Board of Directors, offer reasonable assurance of repayment.” Id., § 635(b)(1)(B); see also id., § 635j(a). “[I]n authorizing any loan or guarantee, the Board of Directors shall take into account any serious adverse effect of such loan or guarantee on the competitive posi[330]*330tion of United States industry ... and shall give particular emphasis to the objective of strengthening the competitive position of United States exporters and thereby of expanding total United States exports.” Id., § 635(b)(1)(B). The Bank Act identifies certain “limitation^] on assistance which adversely affects the United States,” and it provides that “[t]he Bank may not extend any direct credit or financial guarantee for establishing or expanding production of any commodity for export by any country other than the United States, if ... the Bank determines that ... the resulting production capacity is expected to compete with United States production of the same, similar, or competing commodity,” or that “the extension of such credit or guarantee will cause substantial injury to United States producers of the same, similar, or competing commodity.” Id., §§ 635(e)(l)(A)(ii), 635(e)(1)(B). The extension of credit or a guarantee by the Bank causes “substantial injury if the amount of the capacity for production established, or the amount of the increase in such capacity expanded, by such credit or guarantee equals or exceeds 1 percent of the United States production.” Id., § 635(e)(4).

The Bank Act details certain procedures to reduce the adverse effects of loans and guarantees on industry and employment in the United States. See id., § 635(e)(7). For example, if the Bank conducts a “detailed economic impact analysis or similar study” as part of its loan — or guarantee-approval process, it must publish notice of the intended study in the Federal Register and allow for a period of public comment, as well as seek the comments of specified government agencies. Id., § 635(e)(7)(A)-(B). The Bank is required to “address [the] views of adversely affected persons” before “taking final action on an application for a loan or guarantee to which this section applies” by providing such persons’ comments, in writing, to the Bank’s Board of Directors. Id., 635(e)(7)(C). Despite these procedural notice-and-comment requirements, the Bank Act makes clear that subchapter II of chapter 5 of Title 5 of the U.S.Code (i.e., the APA’s notice-and-comment provisions) does not apply to the Bank. Id., § 635(e)(7)(E).

B. The Air India Commitments

The ExporNImport Bank has a long history of making loans and/or loan guarantees to support domestic aircraft manufacturing, including financing purchases of those aircraft by foreign airlines. See Opp. at 7, Exh. A (Declaration of Robert Morin, Vice President of Bank’s Transportation Division, Dec. 16, 2011), ¶¶ 10, 22. These loan guarantees allow foreign airlines to obtain credit with a lower interest rate, which in turn provides them with an incentive to purchase their planes from Boeing, as opposed to from Boeing’s chief competitor, France’s Airbus. See Opp. at 8-9. As purchases of Airbus aircraft are frequently financed by various European export credit agencies, the Ex-Im Bank’s loan guarantees help level the playing field for U.S. aircraft manufacturers. Id. In 2010, the Bank provided more than $11.5 billion in financing for purchases of U.S.manufactured commercial aircraft, which represents the largest industry supported by the Bank. See Opp. at 7-8 (citing Morin Decl., ¶¶ 10, 22).

Air India is one such customer that has obtained preliminary and final commitments of Ex-Im Bank financing to support its purchase of U.S.-made aircraft from Boeing. A company seeking Bank financing may apply to the Bank’s Board of Directors for approval of either a preliminary or final commitment. See Opp. at 9-10. Obtaining a preliminary commitment allows the purchaser to engage in long-term planning. Id. Preliminary commitments may be converted to final commit[331]*331ments by another vote of the Board. Id. New commitments of more than $100 million require an extra step: the Bank may initially approve the commitment pending a 25-day period for Congressional review and comment, and only afterward finalize the commitment. 12 U.S.C. § 635(b)(3).

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Bluebook (online)
840 F. Supp. 2d 327, 2012 WL 119557, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5825, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/air-transport-assn-of-america-inc-v-export-import-bank-dcd-2012.