Export Competitiveness Highlighted for Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke During Visit to Caterpillar's Solar Turbines Facility in San Diego

SAN DIEGO, April 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) subsidiary Solar Turbines today welcomed United States Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to the company's Kearny Mesa facility in San Diego, California. Secretary Locke toured the factory, where gas turbine packages are assembled for the global oil and gas and power generation industries. Natural gas and renewable fuels such as landfill methane, biogas, and coke oven gas power the turbine packages.  Solar's products are used extensively throughout the world for high-efficiency power generation, petroleum production and gas compression.  After the tour, Secretary Locke hosted an export-focused, business discussion with about 100 small business owners from the San Diego area.    

"At this facility, our employees assemble, package, test and ship turbomachinery solutions to customers in more than 90 countries," said Steve Gosselin, Solar Turbines president and Caterpillar vice president.  "Last year, more than 70 percent of the products made at our San Diego area facilities were exported, so we clearly understand the proven benefits of open trade and the need to support trade initiatives," Gosselin added.

During the business discussion following the tour, Secretary Locke explained the department's new National Export Initiative (NEI), which aims to double U.S. exports over the next five years. The NEI focuses on three key areas: expanding trade advocacy, improving access to credit for small and medium businesses that want to export and supporting efforts to open foreign markets for U.S. companies.

"In these uncertain economic times, Solar Turbines has not only survived, but has thrived because of its exporting success," Locke said. "When traditional drivers of U.S. economic growth like consumer and business spending are facing headwinds, increasing exports must be a central part of America's economic recovery and job creation efforts."  

More than 60 percent of all Solar Turbines are located outside of the U.S.  Emerging economies around the world benefit from Solar's products, which are used to develop energy infrastructure and to provide access to reliable, efficient, low emissions electric power and thermal energy.

"We believe the NEI will help U.S. companies improve their competitiveness while discouraging trade isolationism," Gosselin said. "The U.S. only has 5 percent of the world's population, and so the work to promote free trade, including the implementation of pending free trade agreements with Panama, Colombia and South Korea, makes perfect sense."

Solar Turbines is a subsidiary of equipment and engine manufacturer Caterpillar, a leading advocate for open trade and one of the top exporting companies in the U.S.  In 2009, Caterpillar and its subsidiaries exported more than $10 billion in products, supporting thousands of jobs in the United States.

About Solar Turbines:

Solar Turbines is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of industrial gas turbine engines in its size range. Solar Turbines employs about 3,500 people in San Diego and another 3,000 in 45 locations worldwide (6,500 total). More than 13,500 Solar gas turbine engines and turbomachinery systems are used on land and offshore in 96 nations for the production and transmission of crude oil, petroleum products and natural gas and for generating electricity and thermal energy for a wide variety of industrial applications.  Solar Turbines is a U.S.-based manufacturing company with 75 percent of its revenue generated outside of the United States. Winner of the 1998 United States Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, Solar Turbines is a wholly owned subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc., the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines and industrial gas turbines.  

About Caterpillar:

For more than 80 years, Caterpillar Inc. has been making progress possible and driving positive and sustainable change on every continent. With 2009 sales and revenues of $32.396 billion, Caterpillar is the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines and industrial gas turbines. The company also is a leading services provider through Caterpillar Financial Services, Caterpillar Remanufacturing Services, Caterpillar Logistics Services and Progress Rail Services. More information is available at http://www.cat.com.  

Safe Harbor

Certain statements in this release relate to future events and expectations and, as such, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  These statements are subject to known and unknown factors that may cause actual results of Caterpillar Inc. to be different from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Words such as "believe," "estimate," "will be," "will," "would," "expect," "anticipate," "plan," "project," "intend," "could," "should" or other similar words or expressions often identify forward-looking statements.  All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding our outlook, projections, forecasts or trend descriptions. These statements do not guarantee future performance, and Caterpillar does not undertake to update its forward-looking statements.

It is important to note that actual results of the company may differ materially from those described or implied in such forward-looking statements based on a number of factors, including, but not limited to: (i) economic volatility in the global economy generally and in capital and credit markets; (ii) Caterpillar's ability to generate cash from operations, secure external funding for operations and manage liquidity needs; (iii) adverse changes in the economic conditions of the industries or markets Caterpillar serves; (iv) government regulations or policies, including those affecting interest rates, liquidity, access to capital and government spending on infrastructure development; (v) commodity price increases and/or limited availability of raw materials and component products, including steel; (vi) compliance costs associated with environmental laws and regulations; (vii) Caterpillar's and Cat Financial's ability to maintain their respective credit ratings, material increases in either company's cost of borrowing or an inability of either company to access capital markets; (viii) financial condition and credit worthiness of Cat Financial's customers; (ix) material adverse changes in our customers' access to liquidity and capital; (x) market acceptance of Caterpillar's products and services; (xi) effects of changes in the competitive environment, which may include decreased market share, lack of acceptance of price increases, and/or negative changes to our geographic and product mix of sales; (xii) Caterpillar's ability to successfully implement Caterpillar Production System or other productivity initiatives; (xiii) international trade and investment policies, such as import quotas, capital controls or tariffs; (xiv) failure of Caterpillar or Cat Financial to comply with financial covenants in their respective credit facilities; (xv) adverse changes in sourcing practices for our dealers or original equipment manufacturers; (xvi) additional tax expense or exposure; (xvii) political and economic risks associated with our global operations, including changes in laws, regulations or government policies, currency restrictions, restrictions on repatriation of earnings, burdensome tariffs or quotas, national and international conflict, including terrorist acts and political and economic instability or civil unrest in the countries in which Caterpillar operates; (xviii) currency fluctuations, particularly increases and decreases in the U.S. dollar against other currencies; (xix) increased payment obligations under our pension plans; (xx) inability to successfully integrate and realize expected benefits from acquisitions; (xxi) significant legal proceedings, claims, lawsuits or investigations; (xxii) potential imposition of significant costs due to the enactment of healthcare reform legislation; (xxiii) changes in accounting standards or adoption of new accounting standards;  (xxiv) adverse effects of natural disasters; and (xxv) other factors described in more detail in "Item 1A – Risk Factors" in Part I of our Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 19, 2010 for the year ended December 31, 2009.  This filing is available on our website at www.cat.com/sec_filings.  

SOURCE Caterpillar Inc.