GE ships 500 jobs overseas, citing inaction on Ex-Im

General Electric announced Tuesday it is moving hundreds of U.S. jobs overseas as a result of Congress’s failure to reauthorize the Export Import Bank.

GE officials announced in a release that they’re working with the French export credit agency to back financing for some of the company’s $11 billion worth of global power projects.

{mosads}As a result, GE says they’re moving 500 jobs from Texas, South Carolina, Maine and New York to France, Hungary and China.

John Rice, GE vice chairman, called on Congress once again to reauthorize the bank, whose charter lapsed June 30.


“We call on Congress to promptly reauthorize Ex-Im,” Rice said in a statement. “In a competitive world, we are left with no choice but to invest in non-U.S. manufacturing and move production to countries that support high-tech exporters.”

White House press secretary Josh Earnest seized on GE’s announcement, blaming congressional Republicans for killing jobs by failing to renew the Ex-Im Bank’s charter.

Conservatives vehemently oppose reauthorizing the bank, arguing it uses taxpayer money to finance politically connected corporations such as Boeing, GE and Caterpillar, while bypassing small businesses.

House Financial Services Committee chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), a staunch critic of the bank, blamed the administration for the jobs going overseas.

“It’s troubling that the head of President Obama’s Jobs Council [GE chairman and CEO Jeffrey immelt] is announcing GE is leaving Connecticut because the state’s taxes are too high and is choosing to send jobs overseas because U.S. taxpayer-provided subsidies are too low,” Hensarling said in a statement.

A Republican House Financial Services Committee staffer said that GE officials are “working hard to trump up a lot of press for a decision that affects less than 1 percent of its U.S. workforce.”

Heritage Action spokesman Dan Holler said GE “appears to be using the expiration of corporate welfare as political cover to move jobs overseas.”

“GE is free to make that decision, but it would be inappropriate for Congress to use this as an excuse to put taxpayers back on the hook for GE’s international business deals,” Holler said. “Instead lawmakers should focus on lowering the regulatory and financial burden faced by all job creators in America.”    

On Capitol Hill, Democrats pounced on GE’s announcement to attack Republicans.

“Shameful,” was how Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) put it.

“We’re in jeopardy of losing our competitive edge in the global economy because Tea Party activists wanted to make a point,” said Moore, a member of the House Financial Services Committee.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on Financial Services panel, said “it’s time for Republicans in leadership to stop handing victories to our foreign competitors and the far right members of their party and bring Ex-Im up for a vote before this brinksmanship further damages our economy and our ability to compete in the global marketplace.”

Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-Tenn.) said it was an example of “what happens when Congress sits idly by while thousands of jobs are on the line.”

“Each day that Congress fails to take action to reform and reauthorize the Ex-Im Bank, more and more companies of all sizes will be forced to make these same tough decisions,” Fincher said.

It’s unclear whether supporters of Ex-Im will be able to attach a reauthorization amendment to legislation this fall, but most believe that supporters have the necessary votes in Congress.

Tea Party groups such as Heritage Action and Freedom Partners have fought against reauthorizing the bank. The business community — including powerhouses such as the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and the Chamber of Commerce — are fighting to reauthorize it.

“These American jobs losses are a direct result of the failure of Congress to act on Ex-Im reauthorization,” said NAM President Jay Timmons in a statement. “This is not a debate about abstract ideas, as opponents would have you believe.”

Boeing also announced on Tuesday that a Singapore contractor is no longer considering a potential bid on a Boeing satellite contract without Ex-Im reauthorization.

“This is another example of how the lapse in Ex-Im’s charter is having a direct impact on our business — not only in commercial airplanes but in satellite orders,” said Boeing spokeswoman Gayla McPherson. 


“Boeing announced it is reducing employment in its satellite manufacturing business, as many as several hundred employees could be affected through the end of the year, and the uncertainty regarding Ex-Im financing was a contributing factor in this decision,” she said last month.

This story was last updated at 6:05 p.m.

Jordan Fabian contributed to this story.