Are Imports Dangerous?

From 1952 to 1957, the U.S. imported only $61 million worth of heavy electric-power equipment, while exports of the same equipment totalled nearly $840 million worth. But General Electric Co. contends that even these small imports "threaten to impair the national security," wants a Government limit on imports. G.E. argues that U.S. power equipment has "greater proven reliability," that foreign producers maintain insufficient repair facilities in the U.S., and wars or political upheavals "may interfere with delivery" of foreign equipment.

British electrical manufacturers, who are the largest European exporters to the U.S., fired off an angry rebuttal. They said that equipment of inferior quality, either foreign or domestic, cannot slip by rigid U.S. testing standards for federal power projects. As for repairs, British manufacturers have major plants in nearby Canada.

Last week the Office of Defense Mobilization started an investigation to determine whether the imports are really a danger. G.E. was doubly pleased. Just after ODM acted, G.E. was listed as the apparent low bidder for seven big electric generators at the Oahe Dam on the Missouri River near Pierre, S. Dak. When bids were first opened three months ago, Switzerland's Brown, Boveri was the low bidder at $9,502,895. But the Government threw out all the bids because they did not fit specifications and called for new ones. On these, G.E. was low bidder at $8,896,305.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.