Auto suppliers urge Congress to boost access to credit

Detroit News (Shepardson) - The nation's auto suppliers again asked Congress on Friday for greater access to credit. For more than a year, the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association [MEMA] has been seeking access to federal government loans to diversify and stabilize their businesses.

The only auto supplier program the government has created -- a $3.5 billion fund that guarantees payment of receivables for suppliers if they choose to participate -- will be shut down in April, the Treasury's top auto adviser, Ron Bloom, confirmed in written testimony Thursday. Auto suppliers warn that after more than 50 bankruptcies in 2009 and up to 200 simply closing their doors, this year could be even worse. [MEMA] and others back a bill -- the Manufacturing Modernization and Diversification Act -- that would expand nationally a program started in Michigan to aid suppliers.