NEW YORK — General Electric Co. may move up to 500 American jobs overseas because Congress did not renew a government program that allows foreign companies to borrow money to buy U.S. products.
Authorization for the U.S. Export Import Bank was not approved by Congress, causing it to stop lending on July 1. Foreign companies use the agency to buy expensive U.S. products when bank loans are not possible.
As a result, GE says 100 jobs from a Houston plant that makes gas turbines will move to Hungary and China in 2016. The Fairfield, Connecticut, company says those countries have lending options in place for customers.
Another 400 jobs could be created in France instead of factories in South Carolina, Maine and New York if the company wins projects it is bidding on. The projects require financing, which the export credit agency in France has agreed to provide it.