UPDATE: Geithner,Summers To Hold Mtg On Auto Indus Friday
20 Februar 2009 - 4:39PM
Dow Jones News
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and White House
economic advisor Lawrence Summers Friday morning are slated to hold
their first meeting of the Presidential Task Force on the Auto
Industry.
At the meeting today, the two officials are expected to
officially begin considering recovery plans put forth by General
Motors Corp. (GM) and Chrysler LLC. Both auto firms have requested
billions of dollars in additional aid.
On Tuesday, the troubled companies said they need at least $21.6
billion more in loans to put them on path towards recovery. The
requests were part of plans the auto makers were required to submit
based on the terms of government loans they received in early
January.
Upon receiving the restructuring reports from GM and Chrysler
earlier this week, Geithner noted in a statement that the task
force would meet "to analyze the companies' plans and to solicit
the full range of input from across the administration on the
restructuring necessary for these companies to achieve
viability."
The meeting, which will be held at the Treasury Department, is
expected to officially kick off negotiations between the
administration and the auto makers. According to a Treasury notice,
the meeting will be closed to the press.
The Obama administration earlier this week reacted to requests
for billions of dollars in additional aid to the auto firms by
noting that it will take a great deal of support to keep the
struggling companies viable.
"It is clear that going forward, more will be required from
everyone involved - creditors, suppliers, dealers, labor and auto
executives themselves - to ensure the viability of these companies
going forward," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in a
statement Tuesday evening.
Meanwhile, key leaders on Capitol Hill seemed to remain hopeful
that the company and government officials can work together to find
a reasonable solution that could help revive the U.S. auto
industry.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement
earlier this week that the plans represent "the next step in what
has been a difficult and disappointing chapter for the American
economy, but I hope it will become the transformation of our
domestic automobile industry into a viable, technologically
advanced and globally competitive manufacturing force."
At the same time, a senior Republican senator said that no more
taxpayer money should be given to Chrysler until its parent
company, Cerberus, agrees to inject more funds into the firm.
"This is a private equity-owned company," said Sen. Judd Gregg,
R-NH. "I don't see how we put any more taxpayer money into it.
(Cerberus) has enough money, if it wants to put up money it should
do so."
-By Maya Jackson Randall, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9255,
maya.jackson-randall@dowjones.com
(Josh Mitchell and Corey Boles contributed to this report.)