June 2, 2025 • 9 mins
Larry Culp, General Electric Co. CEO is exercising some cost increases to pass on additional charges caused by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, as the world’s largest aircraft engine maker advocates for a return to a duty-free regime that long underpinned the industry. He is joined by Bloomberg's Guy Johnson.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. Larry Cup, of course,
is the CEO of GE Aerospace. It's always fantastic to
catch up with him. Let's kick the conversation off. Larry,
good morning, nice to see thanks for making the time.
Let's talk about the conversation that is happening in the
halls here in New Delhi, and that is about where
the tariffs mean price rises. Is that conversation already beginning.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Well, we've been talking to customers throughout the weekend here
at IATA about the US trade policies and really what
we've tried to do, guys just remind everybody that what
we've been advocating.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
For is a return to where we were on.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
The heels of nineteen seventy nine Civil Aviation Agreement, which
really provided terror free trade. Yeah, amongst all the signataries,
that was a positive for the US heerospace industry. I
think that is why the US enjoys a seventy five
billion dollar annual trade surplus today. But we'll see how
that plays out. There's a series of biladeral negotiations that
(00:59):
are acting.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Of what we've.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Shared with customers and with our investors is we think
we've got about a five hundred million dollar residual cost
challenge as a result of those tariffs.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
There are a whole host of things we've done with
our supply chain.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
We're exercising the duty drawback options and the like, but
we will be taking cost actions and passing along some
of that residual.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
You're already saying.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
It on you. It's already starting to IMPACTE you a.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Business very much, so very much.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
So that's why we're managing it as best we can,
mitigating it where we can through those supply chain improvements,
but also through the costs and price actions.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
I referenced a moment ago.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
And customers are saying what they're saying, you need to
do it, or you need to take that cost, or
we can take some of it, or come on, how
does that conversation go? Well?
Speaker 3 (01:48):
I hate the conversation really starts back with advocacy.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
I think we've worked very well with our airline customers,
with our airframe or partners, making sure that the industry
you're really speaking with one voice at this point in time,
because so many people, I think, believe that the prior regime.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Really benefited the industry.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
In turn, we're helping make sure that everyone understands what
we're doing, both operationally to mitigate but also again the
cost actions that we're taking. You have to make sure
that we're buffering that as best we can.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Your hope would be that you would go back to
that original agreement. I eat no tariffs on the kind
of products that you make, But at the moment, it
looks like ten percent is the minimum the Trump administration
is talking about. Is that now the base case?
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Well, we're continuing to advocate a full throated way, guy
for something akin to where we were with the seventy
nine agreement. Through these bilaterals, right, the US struck at
a bilateral, the UK others are at active. I think
June will be an important month in this regard, but
that's really where we are.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
In terms of kind of where that takes the industry. Next.
Are we going to get a situation where we end
up with uneven playing fields in terms of how you
deal with different customers in different parts of the globe.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Well, I think it's probably too early to tell.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Guy. Again, I think we want to make sure we're
advocating as forcefully as we can taking the mitigation actions
be they operational, be they cost oriented to the full
extent possible, and then we'll see how things play out.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
You're watching for, as you say, a fluid environment, but
the European Union has obviously got to be a big
kind of pass of this very much.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
So again, I think what we're looking for is to
see how the negotiations play out. The July eighth date,
I think looms so here we are in the final
month in the run up to that. I know the
US government is actively engaged with multiple trading partners. Let's
see how those negotiations play out.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
In terms of other factors that kind of work around this.
One of the other things that we're seeing as a
sort of derivative of what is happening in Washington right now,
is it appreciating dollar. How does that affect your business?
Are you already started to see the effect of it?
Is there a translation effect that we should be looking
out for.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
I don't think that's really a material issue for US
guy in Marge part because we transact both with our
customers and our suppliers by and larger dollars, so we
watch it. But it will be a material issue for
g Aerospace.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Working forward from here, we're now thinking about how Boeing
and Airbus are ramping their expectations. So you've got Kelly
Olberg looking maybe to go to sixty on his narrow
body line. He just added another line that obviously means
more engines. We've obviously got Airbus ramping up. They're looking
to get to seventy five. How big a challenge is
(04:31):
that for you right now? Given everything else that is
going on right now, We've got issues in the engine
esp in the engine space right now, Like, how challenging
are those kinds of levels going to be?
Speaker 2 (04:42):
What a wonderful challenge to have, right because be it
with Airbus, be it with Boeing, they are effectively sold
out through the rest of this decade. We're fortunate to
have the leadership position we have both in narrow bodies
right and in wide bodies.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
So we know we're going to.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Have to do more in the back half of this
year than we will do in the first half. We'll
have to do more in twenty six than we did
it in twenty five. But that's really for us, the
benefit of this one hundred and seventy billion dollars backlog
that we enjoy so operationally.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
There's a lot that we're doing guy to make sure we're.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Going in as deeply as we can into our supply chain,
helping our suppliers identify bottlenecks, resolve those as quickly as
we can, and build the skills and build the cake
capacity for what's going to be required.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
As we those two factor is interacting the tariffs and
what's happening in the supply chain. How much more complexity
is being added not taken away right now?
Speaker 3 (05:34):
Well, it is what it is, right.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
I think we've long embraced the idea that we have
to recognize and embrace the reality that we have, and
that's the world that we're operating within. I'm encouraged just
looking at what we did in April and May, for example,
we saw a double digit increase and the receipts that
we get from our key pacing suppliers compared to where
they were in the first quarter. So the actions that
(05:57):
are within our control I think are bearing fruit. We
need to sustain that and build on that over time,
and that's how we'll keep pace with Airbus, with Boeing,
with the airlines and everyone else that rely on on
g Aerospace.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
A couple of quick questions. First one is there is
a lot of concern obviously in Washington, d C. At
the moment, your hometown, from around the issue of the deficit.
G is a US government customer, is a US government
contractor the US government is the customer. How carefully do
you watch what is happening in terms of the ability
of the US government to continue to spend at the
(06:32):
kind of levels that it is. As the CEO of
G Aerospace.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Well, we watch it with interest. As you would imagine.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Most of what we do for the US government is
through the Department of Defense, and we're pleased to be
the supplier on two thirds of the US combat jet
and rotary craft force. There's a lot that's coming as
if the President looks to expand the defense budget, we
think that is relevant step for what we do from
an R and D perspective, from what we do from
(07:00):
a next gen sixth generation combat perspective. So we're very
focused on those products to those customers, mindful of the
of the macro intact you.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Talk about the customers. There is a concern clearly beginning
to sort of grow in Washington about technology transfer when
it comes to jet engines. Do you expect therefore to
see greater and greater restrictions into the Chinese market as
a result of that.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Well, we'll see how the trade policies play out. I
think that that has always been from.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Trade or is it also national security as well?
Speaker 2 (07:34):
I think I think there is an intersection there, But
that has been the case for some time with respect
to what we do. There's a rather rigorous process that
we've gone through for years with the US government with
respect to what we're able to export. I think that
that continues. It might get dialed up, is your question suggests.
But that doesn't bother us. We welcome the scrutiny. We're
(07:58):
going to continue to invest in leading edge products.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Talking of leading edge products, we have one behind us.
Were going back to a work so basically, just to
explain we are up until now, jet edge of have
had a sort of casing around them, but we're moving
away from that. Now we're going to go to super
high bypass engines. We're going back to propel us. Basically,
is that what the next generation of aircraft is going
to look like? Is it going to have these kinds
(08:21):
of engines behind you attached to them?
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Well, guy, that we're going to go forward with this
sort of architecture, and you describe well the open fan effort,
which is a key part of our Rise technology development program.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
This is really.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Technology, not a product thus far, but we think this
is the architecture is you just described that really will
really rely on the propulsive efficiency more so than the
thermal efficiency of the engine to bring that next step
function improvement in fuel efficiency in the latter part of
the twenty thirties. So we're excited about this. It's been
a fuffal point in.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
All of our customer conversations here at Ayada.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Great to see Larry, Thanks very much indeed for making
some time for us here on Blomberg. Fantastic to see you,
Larry Culp, the CEO of ge Aerospace, Thank you very much, indeed,
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. Larry Cup, of course,
is the CEO of GE Aerospace. It's always fantastic to
catch up with him. Let's kick the conversation off. Larry,
good morning, nice to see thanks for making the time.
Let's talk about the conversation that is happening in the
halls here in New Delhi, and that is about where
the tariffs mean price rises. Is that conversation already beginning.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Well, we've been talking to customers throughout the weekend here
at IATA about the US trade policies and really what
we've tried to do, guys just remind everybody that what
we've been advocating.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
For is a return to where we were on.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
The heels of nineteen seventy nine Civil Aviation Agreement, which
really provided terror free trade. Yeah, amongst all the signataries,
that was a positive for the US heerospace industry. I
think that is why the US enjoys a seventy five
billion dollar annual trade surplus today. But we'll see how
that plays out. There's a series of biladeral negotiations that
(00:59):
are acting.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Of what we've.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Shared with customers and with our investors is we think
we've got about a five hundred million dollar residual cost
challenge as a result of those tariffs.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
There are a whole host of things we've done with
our supply chain.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
We're exercising the duty drawback options and the like, but
we will be taking cost actions and passing along some
of that residual.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
You're already saying.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
It on you. It's already starting to IMPACTE you a.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Business very much, so very much.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
So that's why we're managing it as best we can,
mitigating it where we can through those supply chain improvements,
but also through the costs and price actions.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
I referenced a moment ago.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
And customers are saying what they're saying, you need to
do it, or you need to take that cost, or
we can take some of it, or come on, how
does that conversation go? Well?
Speaker 3 (01:48):
I hate the conversation really starts back with advocacy.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
I think we've worked very well with our airline customers,
with our airframe or partners, making sure that the industry
you're really speaking with one voice at this point in time,
because so many people, I think, believe that the prior regime.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Really benefited the industry.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
In turn, we're helping make sure that everyone understands what
we're doing, both operationally to mitigate but also again the
cost actions that we're taking. You have to make sure
that we're buffering that as best we can.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Your hope would be that you would go back to
that original agreement. I eat no tariffs on the kind
of products that you make, But at the moment, it
looks like ten percent is the minimum the Trump administration
is talking about. Is that now the base case?
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Well, we're continuing to advocate a full throated way, guy
for something akin to where we were with the seventy
nine agreement. Through these bilaterals, right, the US struck at
a bilateral, the UK others are at active. I think
June will be an important month in this regard, but
that's really where we are.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
In terms of kind of where that takes the industry. Next.
Are we going to get a situation where we end
up with uneven playing fields in terms of how you
deal with different customers in different parts of the globe.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Well, I think it's probably too early to tell.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Guy. Again, I think we want to make sure we're
advocating as forcefully as we can taking the mitigation actions
be they operational, be they cost oriented to the full
extent possible, and then we'll see how things play out.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
You're watching for, as you say, a fluid environment, but
the European Union has obviously got to be a big
kind of pass of this very much.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
So again, I think what we're looking for is to
see how the negotiations play out. The July eighth date,
I think looms so here we are in the final
month in the run up to that. I know the
US government is actively engaged with multiple trading partners. Let's
see how those negotiations play out.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
In terms of other factors that kind of work around this.
One of the other things that we're seeing as a
sort of derivative of what is happening in Washington right now,
is it appreciating dollar. How does that affect your business?
Are you already started to see the effect of it?
Is there a translation effect that we should be looking
out for.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
I don't think that's really a material issue for US
guy in Marge part because we transact both with our
customers and our suppliers by and larger dollars, so we
watch it. But it will be a material issue for
g Aerospace.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Working forward from here, we're now thinking about how Boeing
and Airbus are ramping their expectations. So you've got Kelly
Olberg looking maybe to go to sixty on his narrow
body line. He just added another line that obviously means
more engines. We've obviously got Airbus ramping up. They're looking
to get to seventy five. How big a challenge is
(04:31):
that for you right now? Given everything else that is
going on right now, We've got issues in the engine
esp in the engine space right now, Like, how challenging
are those kinds of levels going to be?
Speaker 2 (04:42):
What a wonderful challenge to have, right because be it
with Airbus, be it with Boeing, they are effectively sold
out through the rest of this decade. We're fortunate to
have the leadership position we have both in narrow bodies
right and in wide bodies.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
So we know we're going to.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Have to do more in the back half of this
year than we will do in the first half. We'll
have to do more in twenty six than we did
it in twenty five. But that's really for us, the
benefit of this one hundred and seventy billion dollars backlog
that we enjoy so operationally.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
There's a lot that we're doing guy to make sure we're.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Going in as deeply as we can into our supply chain,
helping our suppliers identify bottlenecks, resolve those as quickly as
we can, and build the skills and build the cake
capacity for what's going to be required.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
As we those two factor is interacting the tariffs and
what's happening in the supply chain. How much more complexity
is being added not taken away right now?
Speaker 3 (05:34):
Well, it is what it is, right.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
I think we've long embraced the idea that we have
to recognize and embrace the reality that we have, and
that's the world that we're operating within. I'm encouraged just
looking at what we did in April and May, for example,
we saw a double digit increase and the receipts that
we get from our key pacing suppliers compared to where
they were in the first quarter. So the actions that
(05:57):
are within our control I think are bearing fruit. We
need to sustain that and build on that over time,
and that's how we'll keep pace with Airbus, with Boeing,
with the airlines and everyone else that rely on on
g Aerospace.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
A couple of quick questions. First one is there is
a lot of concern obviously in Washington, d C. At
the moment, your hometown, from around the issue of the deficit.
G is a US government customer, is a US government
contractor the US government is the customer. How carefully do
you watch what is happening in terms of the ability
of the US government to continue to spend at the
(06:32):
kind of levels that it is. As the CEO of
G Aerospace.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Well, we watch it with interest. As you would imagine.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Most of what we do for the US government is
through the Department of Defense, and we're pleased to be
the supplier on two thirds of the US combat jet
and rotary craft force. There's a lot that's coming as
if the President looks to expand the defense budget, we
think that is relevant step for what we do from
an R and D perspective, from what we do from
(07:00):
a next gen sixth generation combat perspective. So we're very
focused on those products to those customers, mindful of the
of the macro intact you.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Talk about the customers. There is a concern clearly beginning
to sort of grow in Washington about technology transfer when
it comes to jet engines. Do you expect therefore to
see greater and greater restrictions into the Chinese market as
a result of that.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Well, we'll see how the trade policies play out. I
think that that has always been from.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Trade or is it also national security as well?
Speaker 2 (07:34):
I think I think there is an intersection there, But
that has been the case for some time with respect
to what we do. There's a rather rigorous process that
we've gone through for years with the US government with
respect to what we're able to export. I think that
that continues. It might get dialed up, is your question suggests.
But that doesn't bother us. We welcome the scrutiny. We're
(07:58):
going to continue to invest in leading edge products.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Talking of leading edge products, we have one behind us.
Were going back to a work so basically, just to
explain we are up until now, jet edge of have
had a sort of casing around them, but we're moving
away from that. Now we're going to go to super
high bypass engines. We're going back to propel us. Basically,
is that what the next generation of aircraft is going
to look like? Is it going to have these kinds
(08:21):
of engines behind you attached to them?
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Well, guy, that we're going to go forward with this
sort of architecture, and you describe well the open fan effort,
which is a key part of our Rise technology development program.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
This is really.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Technology, not a product thus far, but we think this
is the architecture is you just described that really will
really rely on the propulsive efficiency more so than the
thermal efficiency of the engine to bring that next step
function improvement in fuel efficiency in the latter part of
the twenty thirties. So we're excited about this. It's been
a fuffal point in.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
All of our customer conversations here at Ayada.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Great to see Larry, Thanks very much indeed for making
some time for us here on Blomberg. Fantastic to see you,
Larry Culp, the CEO of ge Aerospace, Thank you very much, indeed,
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