GE to move US jobs to France and China in fight over export credits

• 8 years ago (2015-09-16)
• David Flin

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GE has revealed plans to shift up to 500 US manufacturing jobs to Europe and China because it can no longer access EXIM financing from the US Export-Import Bank. GE said that it will move production of some heavy duty gas turbines and 400 jobs to Belfort, France, in exchange for a credit line from France’s COFACE export agency. The deal will support GE bids for international power projects. A spokeswoman for GE said that US plants in Greenville, South Carolina; Schenectady, New York; and Bangor, Maine, will lose out on those jobs if GE wins the power bids.

GE also said 100 additional final assembly jobs for smaller aeroderivative turbine gensets will be moved from Houston, Texas to Hungary and China.

GE is bidding on $11 billion of international power projects that require export credit agency financing, including some in Indonesia.

The US Government allowed the charter of the US Export-Import Bank to expire on June 30, and it is not clear whether EXIM will ever resume lending. Consequently, US companies are making alternative plans.

GE’s Vice Chairman John Rice said he expects the company to soon announce deals with other foreign export credit agencies. He said: “If EXIM isn’t going to happen, or if it’s going to be a regular fight to be reauthorized, we’ve got to make other plans.”