GE shows obstacles to reviving U.S. manufacturing. By David J. Lynch, The Washington Post//June 1, 2026// The blueprint. * GE Appliances plans to move production from China to Kentucky, creating about 800 U.S. jobs. * The company has invested $6.5 billion in domestic manufacturing since 2013. * Automation, robotics and AI are helping make U.S. manufacturing more competitive. * Executives say tariffs support reshoring goals but can also increase costs for factory equipment. LOUISVILLE, Ky. - For several decades, the sight of an empty factory in the American heartland usually meant one thing: More manufacturing jobs had decamped to a foreign locale. But here at GE Appliances' sprawling industrial headquarters, a vacant plant is a sign that jobs are coming home. This 1950s-era facility, one of five that turns out home appliances under familiar GE brands such as Hotpoint and Profile, is preparing to reclaim a manufacturing line that currently hums in China. If all goes well, about 800 American workers will begin producing a combination clothes washer and dryer here next spring. The work, which also includes a line of front-load washers, will mark a milestone in GE Appliances' $6.5 billion, 13-year bid to boost domestic manufacturing. This reshoring success story has drawn plaudits from the White House, even though a Chinese corporation now owns GE Appliances and its American boss complains about President Donald Trump's tariffs. As the United States races to produce more of what it consumes, GE's experience shows that bringing work home offers real advantages over ocean-spanning supply chains. But reviving domestic production means overcoming daunting obstacles, including relentless cost pressures, young Americans' aversion to factory jobs and gaps in the nation's industrial base. "This should be a good proof case of, yeah, this can work. Is it easy? No. And do we have a lot of things working against us? Yeah," said Kevin Nolan, GE Appliances' chief executive. What GE is trying has been a central Trump objective since he entered politics more than a decade ago, promising to quickly reverse a loss of manufacturing jobs that he attributed to faulty trade deals. Yet even as GE and other U.S. companies continue repatriating work that had migrated to low-wage venues, the labor market impact has been hard to discern. U.S. factories employ 12.6 million workers today, virtually unchanged from April 2018, when Trump began imposing tariffs on China. Once part of a business launched by famed inventor Thomas Edison, GE Appliances was sold to China's Haier Group for $5.6 billion in 2016. The Chinese company, perhaps best known in the U.S. for its compact refrigerators, set out to revitalize a famous American brand by doubling down on local know-how. GE's reshoring initiative is a noteworthy break with its corporate lineage. When General Electric owned the business, then-CEO Jack Welch was an outspoken advocate of moving jobs to low-wage countries, once saying half-seriously that he wanted to put factories on barges that could sail wherever costs were lowest. Haier, which has more than 60 factories outside China, has pushed into global markets to offset the impact of a property market collapse at home. In recent years, the company has shifted from a "China-centric" supply chain to a more decentralized approach, in part to get inside Trump's tariff wall. Delegating authority to Nolan is part of what Haier calls its "zero distance" strategy of making products where they will be sold. Nolan, a mechanical engineer who became CEO in 2017, is an evangelist for U.S. manufacturing. Early in his career, he fretted over lost national prowess as GE closed factories in Connecticut and North Carolina and moved work to low-wage nations. Later, working in China and South Korea, he learned that Asian manufacturing was a story of streamlined operations and skill, not just cheap labor. Now that the conventional wisdom in Washington has shifted in favor of making more goods at home, GE is showing that domestic manufacturing delivers new products, tailored for Americans, faster, by having engineers working where their designs are produced, he said. But he confronts a catch-22: To reduce his dependence on foreign suppliers, he needs first to import new factory equipment from foreign suppliers. The Trump administration is not making it any easier. GE spends $4.6 billion per year with roughly 6,500 U.S. suppliers, up from 2,500 in 2019. But after decades of globalization, some key components - such as wiring harnesses - are no longer made in large volumes in the United States. "The equipment I need to put in that factory, it's not made in America. We've got drum lines coming from New Zealand. We need some stuff from China," said Nolan. "But the equipment I'm bringing over, we're paying tariffs on it that are insane." Suppliers will not invest in new U.S. capacity unless they are convinced that large customers like GE Appliances will buy from them over the long haul. And Nolan says tariffs are making that harder. He wants the government to permit tariff-free imports of equipment that is not available from a U.S. supplier. The administration has made some factory construction more affordable. In April, the president cut tariffs to 15% from 25% on "certain metal-intensive industrial equipment and electrical grid equipment," to support expansion of the industrial base. But trade policy overall remains disconnected from the factory floor, Nolan said. "We don't have many leaders around here that have grown up in plants. So you've got people putting policies together that really aren't talking to the people that are in there, that are fighting these struggles and know what the problems are," he said. The emergence of a Chinese-owned company as an emblem of U.S. reshoring, however, has stirred unease among some White House allies. Nick Iacovella, executive vice president of the Coalition for a Prosperous America, which promotes domestic production, said the Chinese government could exploit GE's Internet-connected appliances to access consumer data. Iacovella acknowledged there is no evidence that has happened, and Nolan dismissed the concerns as unfounded, saying no one in China could access GE's systems. For GE, choosing whether to import a component or make it in the U.S. is a case-by-case decision. The key is reducing the amount of labor needed per unit to between one and three hours. At that level, savings from not having to ship products across the Pacific Ocean, coupled with this site's inexpensive electricity and ample water, compensate for higher U.S. wages. Automation is ultimately what makes a larger U.S. manufacturing footprint possible. After one of GE's water filter suppliers moved to Mexico, the company opted to make the products in house, using its most highly automated operation, with cameras, robotic arms, artificial intelligence and autonomous mobile robots. Just seven workers are needed to monitor a line that produces nearly 10,000 filters every shift. Introducing robotic production eliminated the need for three equipment operators. But rather than laying them off, GE reassigned them to work industrial presses that will be part of the reshored laundry unit, said Brian Schwarz, the plant manager. "What we're trying to do is not use automation to take away jobs but to use automation to create jobs," he said. Nolan has high hopes for job growth as a domestic factory "ecosystem" sprouts. But manufacturing jobs can be a tough sell to young workers dazzled by Silicon Valley. And the number of jobs associated with bringing work back from low-wage nations or expanding domestic manufacturing is likely to be limited, said Willy Shih, a supply chain expert at Harvard Business School. GE Appliances has added around 4,000 U.S. jobs since 2016, but more than half of them came from organic growth in the business rather than reshoring, the company said. Inside the plant that is being overhauled, blandly labeled "Building 2," giant excavators are digging pits for 30-inch-thick concrete pads that will support the massive presses needed to pound coiled steel into shape. The plant was constructed in 1951 to meet surging postwar demand for consumer goods. When GE decided to move the combo washer-dryer program back to the U.S., executives considered starting afresh. But everything that made this factory productive when it opened makes it attractive today, said Kelley Brooks, the 28-year GE veteran overseeing the modernization. The building's concrete floors are eight inches thick. Its towering columns stand 100 feet apart, making it roomier than modern warehouse-style facilities. Overhead supports easily bear the weight of several 40-ton cranes. "I know it's a cliché to say, but they just don't build them like this anymore," Brooks said. Many of the executives involved in today's reshoring moved work offshore during globalization's heyday. After years of pandemic, war and supply chain upset, they now demand bigger savings before choosing foreign suppliers. "I think people have realized all the hidden costs associated with sourcing elsewhere," said Bill Good, vice president of supply chain.

GE Appliances Air & Water Solutions has expanded its HVAC portfolio with new entry-level heat pump systems across three product lines: the GE Connect Series Side-Discharge, GE Top-Discharge and Haier SD Series Side-Discharge. The additions aim to help contractors close more jobs by offering affordable options without switching brands. The new systems range from 14 to 15 SEER2 ratings and are designed for specific installation scenarios, including tight-access installs and straightforward replacements. They enable contractors to offer good/better/best pricing tiers whilst meeting standard residential efficiency requirements. The expansion comes as affordability concerns increasingly cause homeowners to reject higher-priced installations. All systems are backed by GE Appliances' national distribution network and warranty infrastructure.

Investing in Alabama: GE Appliances invests $28 million in factory upgrades and on-site primary care clinic at morgan county facility. GE Appliances' Decatur plant is the largest refrigeration manufacturing operation in the U.S. and produces the most popular type of refrigerator found in American homes. Arial drone shot of GE Appliances upgraded Decatur Production Operation (DPO) in Alabama, featuring a new on-site healthcare clinic, free for its employees and families. (Photo: GE Appliances, a Haier company) DECATUR, Ala.-(BUSINESS WIRE)-Today, GE Appliances, a Haier company, opened its doors to government officials and community leaders to see a $28 million investment in state-of-the-art equipment upgrades and the opening of a new primary care clinic for GE Appliances employees and their families at its refrigeration plant in Decatur, Alabama. This investment strengthens GE Appliances' Alabama workforce, deepens community relationships, and reinforces its position as an employer of choice in northern Alabama. This investment is part of GE Appliances' previously announced $3 billion investment to expand U.S. manufacturing over the next five years, reinforcing the company's long-term business strategy and commitment to design, engineer and build its most advanced products in the United States. Alabama-Made and Built for America A significant portion of the $28 million investment in the Decatur plant funded new, highly automated thermoforming machines that produce interior liners for fresh food and freezer sections of top-freezer refrigerators. The technology improves efficiency and expands production capacity across multiple models, supporting the plant's three-shift operation. Additional upgrades include new lighting and 21 new commercial air-conditioning units added to improve the employee work experience. The investment is part of GE Appliances' work to expand its manufacturing footprint and increase investment in American communities. GE Appliances has been part of the Decatur community since 1977 and remains a cornerstone of manufacturing excellence in northern Alabama. GE Appliances' Decatur plant is the highest-volume refrigeration plant in the country and nationally recognized for manufacturing excellence, producing 16-22 cubic ft. refrigerators that rank #1 in quality and dependability.[1] "Investing in advanced manufacturing and employee health is a winning combination that strengthens our business," said Rocki Rockingham, chief human resources officer at GE Appliances. "How we show up matters. At GE Appliances, we are creating appliances our consumers love in an environment where our employees can do their best work and build lasting careers." Expanding Healthcare Access with Proven Results Beyond plant updates, the $28 million investment will fund a new, state-of-the-art primary care clinic serving employees and their covered family members (ages 2 and older). The new facility is GE Appliances' fourth onsite advanced primary care clinic at its manufacturing sites. The clinics are managed by healthcare provider CareATC and free to employees on the company health plan. The Decatur CareATC clinic builds on the success of GE Appliances' on-site clinics at its plants in Louisville, Kentucky; Selmer, Tennessee; and LaFayette, Georgia. Over the past two years, these clinics have delivered measurable results that are boosting employee health, including: * Primary care visits up 21.5% * A 28% rise in overall visits * A 12.3% reduction in avoidable ER visits among employees using the clinics Reimagining the Manufacturing Employee Experience In 2023, GE Appliances debuted its "On the Clock Care" program, allowing employees to go to annual physicals and a follow-up appointment during work hours on company time. In 2024, this program expanded to include mental health services and care of chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, and asthma. Now, employees can receive high-quality health care for free, without taking time off. Services mirror those of a community primary care office, with additional offerings such as acute and preventive care, chronic condition management, nutritional counseling, lab work, prescription services for common medications, and mental health support, all at no cost. "At GE Appliances, investing in the health of our people is investing in the success of our business," said Michele Clark, Senior Health Services Manager at GE Appliances. "This new clinic gives employees access high-quality primary care that fits into their everyday lives." Economic Impact GE Appliances contributes more than $2.1 billion annually to Alabama's Gross Domestic Product, directly employs 1,600 people in Alabama, and supports thousands of additional jobs across the state through its workforce, suppliers, and operations. Investments at Decatur strengthen that impact while expanding the production of innovative refrigeration products built for American homes. About GE Appliances At GE Appliances, a Haier company, we come together to make good things, for life. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, we are a leading U.S. manufacturer of home appliances with 15,500 team members nationwide. GE Appliances, found in half of all U.S. homes, is proud to be rated America's #1 Appliance Company[2] and trusted by millions of families nationwide. We manufacture and sell products under the Monogram(TM), Café(TM), GE Profile(TM), GE(R), Haier(TM), and Hotpoint(TM) brands. Our operations support nearly 90,000 additional American jobs and represent an investment of more than $2 billion since 2016. We are deeply committed to the communities where we live and work, passionate about getting closer to our product users to understand their needs and driven by the belief that there's always a better way. To learn more about our company, brands, career opportunities, and impact, visit geappliancesco.com or connect with us on LinkedIn | [1] [Based on an independent study of property maintenance personnel. Source: The Stevenson Company] | | [2 OpenBrand Consumer Tracking Survey, Q1 - Q4 2024, Based on Volume of Total Majors/MO/RAC - Retail Units] | Digital Assets: Visuals of GE Appliances' Decatur Production Operations are available for download as images or b-roll. Contacts. Media Contacts: Julie Wood, GE Appliances, a Haier company (502) 741-1557 or [email protected]