FAIRFIELD, Conn. - General Electric (
NYSE:GE,
Forum) is
closing an engine manufacturing plant an Wisconsin and says it will invest US$265 million to build a new one in Canada in a move to take advantage of Canadian export credit financing.
The company announced Monday that work on the new plant, which will initially provide 350 jobs, is expected to be completed in 20 months.
The planned location of the new plant was not disclosed.
GE currently employs 350 at its manufacturing facility in Waukesha, Wis., building gas engines for compression, mechanical drive and power generation applications. According to the company, in Wisconsin alone, suppliers generate almost $47 million in revenue from the plant.
The company said the new state-of-the-art plant in Canada and will be a flexible facility that can expand over time and also support manufacturing requirements for other GE businesses.
“With today's announcement, GE fully expects to expand its relationship with [Export Development Canada] in support of the company's Power & Water, Oil & Gas and Transportation businesses,” the company said in a statement.
While many countries have export credit agencies (ECAs) that support domestic manufacturing for export, the US does not. Congressional authorization for the U.S. export credit agency, the Export-Import Bank, lapsed on July 1.
The company said in a news release, “While more than 60 other countries have export credit agencies (ECAs) that support domestic manufacturing for export, the US does not. The authorization for the U.S. export credit agency – the Export-Import Bank, or Ex-Im – lapsed on July 1. For the last year, exporters and suppliers have called upon Congress to reauthorize the U.S. Export-Import Bank to support manufacturing jobs and level the playing field for U.S. companies that compete globally. Most countries are hungry for manufacturing and export jobs. The U.S. remains the only major economy in the world without an export bank.”
“We believe in American manufacturing, but our customers in many cases require ECA financing for us to bid on projects,” said GE vice-chairman John Rice. “Without it, we cannot compete and our customers may be forced to select other providers.”
GE is currently bidding on US$11 billion of projects that require export financing and the company noted that last year the EDC facilitated exports and investments of approximately C$100 billion.