Sec. 2. Findings; purpose
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Congress makes the following findings: Export growth helps United States business grow and create United States jobs. Ninety-eight percent of United States exports came from approximately 300,000 small- and medium-sized businesses supporting 4,000,000 United States jobs. In a February 5, 2021, message to an African leaders meeting at the African Union Summit, President Joseph R. Biden reaffirmed the United States relationship with African countries as partners in the continent-wide spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation.
Many countries have trade-distorting export promotion programs that aggressively subsidize exports to Africa and other countries around the world. In 2019, there were 115 known official export credit providers around the world, including export credit agencies, up from 85 in 2015—a 35 percent increase from 2015 to 2019. The increasing investment by foreign governments into export credit can threaten competitiveness of United States businesses abroad. Between 2008 and 2019, the People's Republic of China alone provided more than $462,000,000,000 in loans to the developing world, and, in 2009, the People's Republic of China surpassed the United States as the leading trade partner of African countries.
The Export-Import Bank of the United States reports the People's Republic of China’s export finance activity is larger than all the other export credit agencies in the Group of 7 countries combined, making the People's Republic of China the world’s largest official creditor with a portfolio more than twice the size of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund combined. The Export-Import Bank of the United States supported $12,400,000,000 worth of transactions to sub-Saharan Africa from 2009 to 2019, while in 2018, the People's Republic of China made up 22 percent of public debt stock, and, in 2020, the People's Republic of China made up 29 percent of debt service in low-income countries in Africa.
The People's Republic of China accounts for a quarter or more of all public and publicly guaranteed debt in Angola, Djibouti, Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Zambia. The practice of the People's Republic of China of concessional financing runs contrary to the principles of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development related to open market rates, undermines naturally competitive rates, and incentivizes governments in Africa to overlook the People's Republic of China’s troubling record on labor practices, human rights, and environmental impact.
Sixty percent of Africa’s approximately 1,250,000,000 people are under the age of 25, and by the year 2050, one-third of global youth will be in sub-Saharan Africa. By 2030, Africa will have 17 cities with more than 5,000,000 inhabitants, as well as 90 cities with populations of at least 1,000,000. Both are factors contributing to rising household consumption predicted to reach approximately $2,500,000,000,000 by 2030. When countries such as the People's Republic of China assist with large-scale government projects, they often gain access to valuable commodities such as oil and copper, typically without regard to environmental, human rights, labor, or governance standards.
The purpose of this Act is to create jobs in the United States by expanding programs that will result in increasing United States exports to Africa by 200 percent in real dollar value within 10 years.