G.E. to Add Two New U.S. Plants as Unions Agree on Cost Controls

“G.E. was going to try to sell us off, and the next thing you know they want to expand manufacturing,” Mr. Carney added. “If we stay with G.E., what we got to do is stay competitive to get them to stay here.” Mr. Immelt praised Mr. Obama’s push to expand the nation’s green industries.

“If the U.S. really became the world leader in green energy, more than a million high-level manufacturing jobs would be part of that,” he said. “Basically, you have to capture one or two of these big global industries to drive the seismic change we need in our manufacturing base.”

Harley Shaiken, an expert on globalization in manufacturing at the University of California at Berkeley, said it was important that the head of such a prominent company was embracing manufacturing.

“In the 1980s Sony’s

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[SNE  Loading...      ()   ] president used that famous phrase about the hollowing out of the manufacturing economy in the U.S.,” Mr. Shaiken said. “Immelt is essentially saying a quarter century later that the hollowing out has continued and is dangerous, and we need to reverse that process. That’s significant, but it represents just a first step.”

Mr. Immelt said he had long talked about the importance of manufacturing competitiveness and exporting — G.E. exported $19 billion in goods last year, led by exports of jet engines and power-generating and medical equipment. He said he had stepped up his comments because the economy was so ill and because increasing competitiveness would help restore the economy’s long-term health.

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He said he was not focusing on manufacturing to distract from troubles with G.E.’s stock price and with its financing arm G.E. Capital.

In an unusual admission, Mr. Immelt said G.E. had outsourced too many operations in some areas. He said the company planned to “insource” some research to the Michigan center and some production of appliances and aviation components.

The United States could learn from China, he said in a recent speech in Detroit. “They’ve been growing fast because they invest in technology and they make things,” he said. “They have no intention of letting up in manufacturing in order to evolve into a service economy. They know where the money is, and they aim to get there first. America has to get back in that game.”