Commercial banks and bond investors were reluctant to shoulder all the risk. The US Ex-Im Bank says it "assumes credit and country risks that the private sector is unable or unwilling to accept". In return for the US government loan, Hancock Prospecting will purchase American mining and rail equipment from Caterpillar, General Electric and Atlas Copco. The Export-Import Bank says their involvement will "support" 3400 US jobs. US conservatives have deep misgivings about the "corporate welfare" the Ex-Im Bank is dishing out, including to Rinehart. Republicans against corporate welfare

Some Republicans in Congress, including Mike Lee, Jeb Hensarling and Justin Amash, are agitating to abolish the government bank and insurer when the agency's current charter expires on September 30. A report last week that Caterpillar was being investigated bymore than a fund for corporate welfare". Remarkably, the Obama administration now regards the agency as an important part of its drive to increase exports. There has been a furious lobbying effort on Capitol Hill to retain the government bank, including by Caterpillar and aircraft company Boeing, its biggest beneficiary. Proponents of Ex-Im Bank argue that without its existence, American firms would miss out on export opportunities and that projects, such as Roy Hill, would find it more difficult to secure finance. This is code for the fact that some ventures may be sub-economic or too risky for private enterprises to support.

Ex-Im Bank also runs at a profit, supporters say. But that is beside the point. It creates an unnecessary distortion in capital markets by picking special winners.