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(Bloomberg) -- General Electric Co.’s top executive made a direct appeal to President Donald Trump as part of a broad push by the manufacturer to navigate the volatility stemming from the global trade war.
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Chief Executive Officer Larry Culp spoke with Trump in-person earlier this month to explain how a “tariff-free regime” has benefited the aerospace supply chain and generated a trade surplus for the domestic industry. Culp said he’s “hopeful” the message got through.
“We are certainly supportive of the administration’s priorities around American competitiveness, revitalizing American manufacturing,” he said in an interview Tuesday after the company reported quarterly results. “We were advocating for, in effect, a reversion back to that tariff-free regime in both directions across the Atlantic.”
The meeting underscores the lengths that corporate leaders are going to ease the blow from tariffs that are upending global markets and complicating financial planning. Culp’s company, which operates as GE Aerospace, reaffirmed its full-year outlook on Tuesday, saying that cost controls and price increases were helping to offset a $500 million impact from Trump’s tariffs.
The steady guidance offers a counter to other big aviation companies rattled by weakening consumer confidence and fears that the trade war could tilt the US economy into a recession. US airlines — key customers of GE’s jet engine business — have announced plans to reduce flying capacity and torn up their financial outlooks due to volatile trade policies that have made the broader economic environment nearly impossible to predict.
Investors are also concerned that new duties risk heaping additional pressure on the aerospace supply chain that could slow new aircraft deliveries by Boeing Co. and Airbus SE.
GE Aerospace, the world’s largest maker of jet engines, still expects adjusted full-year earnings of $5.10 to $5.45 a share, along with low double-digit revenue growth. The guidance takes announced tariffs into account, but it does not assume further escalation or a global recession.
The company’s shares climbed 5.4% after markets opened in New York on Tuesday. The stock had gained about 6.9% this year through Monday’s close, compared with a 12% decline by the S&P 500 Index.
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Adjusted first-quarter earnings were $1.49 a share compared with the $1.27 average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sales were $9 billion, in line with analyst estimates.