President's '$2 billion dollar' trip to India turns into $10 billion dollar deal for American jobs

[bigtree]

November 7th, 2010


President Barack Obama speaks next to Boeing Military Aircraft's Chairman Christopher Chadwick and Spice Jet's founder Bhupendra Kansagra at a meeting of CEOS at the U.S.-India Business and Entrepreneurship Summit in Mumbai November 6, 2010. REUTERS/Jason Reed

Obama strikes India deals for 54,000 American jobs

The US President, Mr Barack Obama, and his wife, First Lady, Ms Michelle Obama, arrived in India’s financial capital on Saturday for what looked more like a strongly focused business trip that began with the announcement of $10 billion in deals with Indian firms that would create over 50,000 jobs in America.

This was not unexpected considering that Mr Obama’s pre-visit pronouncements were all about doing deals that would mean thousands of jobs back home.

. . . the real action of the American President’s two-day visit to Mumbai was his hardsell of deals that mean jobs back home. Though he was addressing Indian and American CEOs at the Trident Hotel, his real message was to his opponents in America as he stressed in particular that the 20 deals worth $10 billion signed during his visit would result in creating 50,000 jobs in the US. These include Boeing going to sell 30 737s to SpiceJet for $2.7 billion and GE selling hundreds of electric engines.

“There will be hi-tech jobs created in California and manufacturing jobs in Ohio,” President Obama added.


read more: http://www.deccanchronicle.com/national/taj-hotel-symbol-strength-and-resilience-indian-people-obama-627

WSJ (live) blog of President's speech to CEOs: http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2010/11/06/live-blog-obamas-speech-to-ceos/


President Barack Obama greets business leaders after delivering remarks at the US-IBC (Indian Business Council) Summit at the Hotel Trident Oberoi in Mumbai, India, Saturday, Nov. 6, 2010 (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

[CatWoman]

1. GOOOOOOOOOOOO, OBAMA!!!

LOL~!!!

:)

[pinto]

2. Good deals.

:thumbsup:

[Ruby the Liberal]

3. For Americans or did he just announce a new H1-B visa program....

India was pissed we raised the visa rates on H1-B a few months ago, so that question naturally came to mind.

[the redcoat]

4. But creating jobs will just raise unemployment!

Curious to see how Fox handles this one.

[Skittles]

5. not buying it

the jobs created will be in India, or other countries even cheaper

[tammywammy]

6. Boeing's going to move it's 737 production to India? n/t

[Skittles]

9. I will only believe jobs are created when I actually see them

and I am not talking about HB folk brought into America to do the job CHEAP

[tammywammy]

12. Okay, so you don't think 737 production is going to move to India?

Or you don't believe SpiceJet's really going to purchase the jets?

Considering the unions involved in airplane manufacturing, I doubt they're going to be bringing in and "HB folk" to work the assembly. And definitely not on any military transport planes India may purchase.

This is good news. :shrug:

[Skittles]

13. I want to see actual RESULTS before I start cheerleading

enough is ENOUGH

[iamtechus]

16. Some production will move to India.

At least that's the way Boeing usually gets foreign contracts. Selling airplanes to, say, China comes down to bargaining over which of the airplanes' subassemblies will be manufactured in China.

In recent years, Boeing has been our #1 exporter but you don't often hear about them setting up factories and training workers in foreign countries.

[grahamhgreen]

26. Easy answer - will they make more profit for the lazy rich if they do?

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Skittles]

10. .

how definitive does this sound to you???

Officials said the deals would support 53,670 U.S. jobs, but it was not clear how many, if any, new jobs would be created as a result.

[bigtree]

14. if any?

as if.

[Skittles]

18. it's a pretty roundabout way of saying, "none"

[bigtree]

19. ridiculous.

[Skittles]

23. it is indeed ridiculous

I really wish they could just TELL IT LIKE IT IS

[Karmadillo]

22. If you don't believe, Recovery Summer will die.

nt

[Greyhound]

30. LOL!

Thanks for the laugh on a depressing day.
:rofl:

[tammywammy]

8. Here's more on the deal:

* Sale by Boeing of 30 new 737 aircraft, worth $2.7 billion, to private Indian airline SpiceJet. The White House says this helps to support over 12,000 U.S. jobs.

* However, details are still being ironed out on the Indian purchase of 10 Boeing C-17s military transport planes, worth about $4.5 billion. The White House said the two sides had reached preliminary agreement on the sale.

* Sale by GE of fighter 107 F414 jet engines to the Indian military. The deal is worth over $800 million.

* A separate deal with GE worth $500 million for the sale of six heavy duty gas turbines and three steam turbines to India's Reliance Energy Ltd.

* Harley-Davidson plans a new plant in India to assemble American-made motorcycle kits. The iconic U.S. motorcycle maker announced in January it would launch 12 models in India this year.

* The White House said India had identified GE subsidiary GE Transportation, based in Erie, Pennsylvania, and Electro-Motive Diesel, of LaGrange, Illinois, a unit of Caterpillar Inc, as bidders to supply Indian railways with over 1,000 diesel locomotives over 10 years.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6A514920101106

[crazyjoe]

11. bullshit, your saying these deals were put together by Obama?

i don't think so.
Or are you saying they wouldn't of happened without Obama traveling their?
i don't think so.

[bigtree]

15. yar

that's what I be saying.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

37. I smell a forwarder of that Snopes-debunked BS.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/india.asp

[bluestateguy]

17. Please tell me that the pinheads in our Congress don't have to approve any of this

nt

[groundloop]

20. I don't believe these agreements need pinhead approval

Besides, any congressional pinhead would be an idiot to stand in the way of US manufacturing deals this big.

Of course I can see some idiot trying to claim the President is moving Harley production to India. Actually that deal looks very appealing, make subassemblies here (US jobs) and have Indian workers assemble the "kits" - bringing up their standard of living as well.

[applegrove]

21. What a great turnaround.

[bigtree]

24. kick

[deacon]

25. Okay so the score is another 54k for Obama and GOP minus 8,000 this week.

8,000 being the R who said no to trains.

[bigtree]

27. Yep. I don't remember any of those republican leaders and critics

. . . producing jobs at this rate. Let me hold my breath while we wait for them to match this.

[Motown_Johnny]

28. Is this why the (R)s preemptively attacked the trip?

Trying to piss on the good news

[blondeatlast]

33. Yup. nt

[rusty fender]

29. Where is he going to get the 300,000 more per month

that we need just to keep pace with those coming into the job market?

He won't stop the outsourcing because it "enhances the standard of living in both countries," so where does he go next to create the next 50,000 jobs, and the next after that?:shrug:

[SidDithers]

31. K&R...nt

Sid

[chill_wind]

32. These deals were already on the books in Aug and Sept and the announcements were timed

by the WH for the trip, Bigtree. The Boeing deals, anyway, which make up the bulk of the jobs- the C-17 sales (22,000) and Spicejet (12,000).

Boeing raises sales forecast for India

By Parul Chhaparia Aug 03 2010 , New Delhi

Upbeat on economic growth and increasing air traffic, Boeing India on Tuesday raised its forecast for sale of commercial planes in the Indian aviation market. The company expects that the domestic carriers will require 1,150 aircraft worth $130 billion in the next 20 years. This is 150 aircraft more that the company’s earlier projection of requirement of Indian carriers by 2029.

“In India, the prospect for long-term growth remains high. Last year the Indian carriers carried

44 million passengers and this year the number will be

50 million,” Dinesh Keskar, Boeing India president said.

Carriers such as SpiceJet, IndiGo are going for major expansion. While SpiceJet has placed an order for 30 Boeing planes worth $2.7 billion, IndiGo is planning to add 150 aircraft. Boeing's customers in India include Jet Airways Air India and SpiceJet.

http://www.mydigitalfc.com/news/boeing-raises-sales-forecast-india-747

22 Sep, 2010, 03.04AM IST, G Ganapathy Subramaniam,ET Bureau
India, US may sign $3.5 billion defence deal

NEW DELHI: The largest-ever defence deal between India and the US — acquisition of 10 C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft by the Indian Air Force for $3.5 billion, nearly Rs 16,100 crore at current exchange rates, — is likely to be inked during US President Barack Obama’s planned visit to India this November.

Negotiations have reached the final stage and each of the giant transport aircraft, which can carry helicopters too, would be priced at around $300 million. After spares and maintenance are included, the final deal size would be around $3.5 billion, making it the biggest defence deal between the two countries.

(...)

While the deal would be finalised at the government level, Boeing will handle its implementation as well as the offsets. Mark Kronenberg, vice-president for international business development at Boeing’s defence, space and security division, said India would have the largest C-17 fleet outside the US once the deal is successfully concluded. Currently, UK has the largest C-17 fleet outside the US with eight aircraft, followed by Qatar and Australia. Without going into the deal’s timing or its value, he said that Boeing would come into the picture after the two governments complete their negotiations.

The C-17 acquisition will be bigger than the $2-billion deal for eight P-81 maritime reconnaissance planes signed in 2009, highly-placed government sources said. It is a major agreement between the two governments, they said on condition of anonymity. This huge order will come in handy for the Obama administration to highlight as one of the steps it has taken to rev up the US economy and create employment. Indian companies will also benefit since the government’s offset policy mandates that 30% of the deal value flows back as offset business. The offset business for this deal is estimated to be around $1 billion.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/India-US-may-sign-35-billion-defence-deal/articleshow/6603857.cms

That said, jobs are jobs, especially for Boeing workers, and the announcements make for nice press optics. I also don't know how much difference it would have made for the WH to have hyped them before the election, when, as others have pointed out, this is an extreme trickle in the crisis of what is urgently needed-- *250,000- 300,000 new jobs a month*

http://newsroom-magazine.com/2010/academic/economics/america-needs-300000-jobs-a-month/

But please, let's just keep it real.

[bigtree]

35. I read where the President released India from U.S. trade restrictions

. . . related to security issues, which, in turn, accommodated many of the deals. That's something that can only be facilitated effectively at the presidential level. This confluence of events, which you correctly point out has been in the works for some time, was orchestrated by the administration. The face-to-face diplomacy was viewed as extremely important to participants whose efforts had suffered in the past by restrictions, U.S. legislative reactions to Indian trade, and other trade barriers that the President was there to personally pledge to address. That's not insignificant at all to the progress of these deals.


"Under the export liberalization agreement Mr. Obama announced, the U.S. would back India's full membership in four nonproliferation alliances.

Washington will remove India's space and defense organizations from its "entities list," which lists firms of concern on the proliferation front. The administration will also relax its own dual-use export restrictions to India.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704366704575597980420377888.html?mod=WSJ_article_MoreIn_US


He announced he would work with India towards easing of export rules which could result in ending the high technology denial regime against Indian entities such as DRDO and ISRO.
http://www.zeenews.com/obama/story.aspx?aid=666240


'Real' enough for ya?

[chill_wind]

36. Enh.The Shrub (hardly a gifted diplomat) got the U.S. big Boeing and Lockheed Martin deals

with India as well.

This was a Bush admin deal, rubber-stamped a couple months into Obama's term:

New Delhi. The Indian Navy has signed a $ 2.1+ billion deal for eight highly sophisticated P8-I Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA) with Boeing in the biggest arms accord yet with the United States.
January 2009

Delivery of the aircraft for operations should begin in about four years, or just around the time the US Navy achieves Initial Operational Capability (IOC) after tests lasting four years. The first flight of the aircraft is due in the last quarter of 2009, “followed closely by delivery to the US Navy for the start of flight tests” at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, a Boeing spokesperson from the company’s Airborne Anti-Submarine Warfare and Intelligence Programme told India Strategic.

Indian Navy spokesman Commander Nirad Sinha confirmed the deal, signed here on January 1, adding that the government had accepted the recommendations of the Naval Headquarters and that the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) had cleared the proposal at its last meeting.

It was apparently part of the several proposals that the CCS cleared to strengthen coastal and sea-based surveillance in the wake of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks by Pakistani terrorists, who had hijacked an Indian fishing vessel to smuggle themselves into India in a well executed commando operation.

Boeing’s Vice President and Country Head for Integrated Defence Systems (India) Dr Vivek Lall described the deal as “unprecedented” as this is the first time that the US is sharing the technology developed for US armed forces with another country at the same time. Canada and Australia are among the other countries looking for this aircraft, he said.

This is the third big ticket military aviation deal with the US, the other two being the acquisition of three Boeing BBJ VIP jets and six Lockheed Martin C 130J Super Hercules aircraft for Special Operations. The combined value of these two agreements however is lower than that of the MMA deal. The aircraft is much more than the traditional LRMR, in that it would have a tremendous offensive capability to neutralize threatening ships and submarines irrespective of their size and speed.

http://www.indiastrategic.in/topstories220.htm

Going back even further...

Arming India: Can the US Get a Piece?
By Simon Robinson/Delhi Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2008

Lockheed Martin announced this week that it will supply six Super Hercules C130-Js to India in a deal worth $1 billion — a breakthrough that the U.S. hopes will open a floodgate of orders for its military hardware.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1714760,00.html#ixzz14eRzgkEd

India-U.S. Nuke Deal is Key To Boosting Business Ties

Tuesday, February 28, 2006


The proposed nuclear agreement, announced during a visit by India's prime minister to Washington last July, has already helped translate the potential into reality.

The first signs of serious change came when the Indian Air Force shortlisted Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co. as potential suppliers for 126 new fighter jets it plans to buy. India has never used a U.S-made combat aircraft.

"One reason we are here is because we hope the strategic relationship will continue to grow," Lee Whitney, a Lockheed vice president, said during a recent defense show in New Delhi that drew more American weapons makers than ever before.

But military purchases are just one aspect of the new economic ties.

Last month, state-run carrier Air India placed an order to buy 68 planes from Boeing Co. in a deal valued at $11 billion.

"The Air India deal is only one example. There will be many others," said Montek Singh Ahluwalia, one of the prime minister's top economic advisers.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,186313,00.html

This is not brand new stuff, unique to President Obama. And as said 54,000 jobs (over how many years?) are better than no jobs, and there's nothing wrong in being happy for those, but in the brutal big picture, this is not real big-bang stuff, either.

What is new are the newly lifted restrictions being pointed out. THAT's your story. Making the U.S. CEO's happy again:

"India has long sought a loosening of the export restrictions more for political reasons than economic ones -- the country did not want to be viewed as a rogue state -- and the move is part of a bid to strengthen relations with India.

But the trip, Mr. Obama's first extended foray overseas this year, is also an attempt to ease tensions with America's chief executives, many of whom spent the recent campaign accusing the White House of being antibusiness -- and pouring money into the coffers of Republican candidates and groups that aimed to defeat the Democrats. More than 200 American executives timed a business conference to coincide with Mr. Obama's arrival in Mumbai -- and the president reciprocated by showering them with attention."

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/obama-eases-rules-on-select-technology-exports-64760?cp

And you know what I think they will do for President Obama and for us? They will outsource even more. And keep giving money to Republicans.



US may outsource lightweight satellite launches to India

By Gulshan R Luthra

http://www.indiastrategic.in/topstories748.htm

[chill_wind]

34. And as for the traveling USIBC corps over there with him-

Here's who they are.
http://www.usibc.com/usibc/about/default

USIBC's 2010 Advocacy Agenda

The U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) must be prepared to advocate "uphill" for bold economic reforms in India.

The following is a breakdown of key advocacy issues at the forefront of USIBC's thirteen Executive Committees:

Protectionism - Keep a close vigil against back-sliding on both sides. TARP conditionalities on H1-B Visas and non-tariff barriers like the Vodafone Tax Ruling and how this could thwart M&A in India are but two examples where USIBC must remain vigilant, advocating for global engagement and against parochial nationalism and regression.

Towards Freer Trade - Success at Doha continues to be the ultimate goal, with greater opening in services, cooperation on agriculture, and a more rationale system enabling movement of high technology professionals between our economies. Towards this end, a first-step will be to advocate for continued Bilateral Investment Treaty negotiations between the Indian Government and the Obama Administration.

more at


http://www.usibc.com/usibc/advocacy/objectives