[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by bumpa

Perhaps f we addressed the wage imbalance in this country the middle class might have the disposable income needed to afford higher priced American made goods. Track the history of the rise in imports from China and Japan and you'll find it closely follows the shift from high middle class wages to higher CEO wages. CEO's buy from Germany their workers from China and other low price countries. Just one piece of the puzzle.

I agree and I think that it began in about 1970. From then on the middle class wages (with respect to cost of living) never increased. The death of UNIONS and OUTSOURCING allowed the top CEOs to DEMAND more salary.

[jimhoward]

There was a recent survey that went viral which asked:

Would America be better off if more people worked in factories? To which 80% said yes.

Then it asked. Would you be better off working in a factory? To which 25% said yes.

There are something like 500,000 open manufacturing jobs in the US right now.

I love manufacturing. The problems are interesting, it requires excellence in every aspect of business, including engineering, quality, facilities, marketing, finance, IT, human resources. It takes entrepreneurialism, capital and labor.

But, I think there are a lot more people in this country that want the US to increase domestic manufacturing than that want to manufacturer things themselves. People want to buy US made products, they don't want to themselves make products. A generalization I realize.

[Andyb]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

You probably should have taken a minute to understand the issue before making such comments.

This isn't about Boeing being unable to manufacture planes. This is about Boeing, an American manufacturer, losing the sale of 180 planes to China over two years. At about 500 planes per year, this represents nearly 20% loss in sales.

What bothers me is China makes most of our prescription medicine. What are we really getting? They don’t care. Time to bring manufacturing back to the US.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by jimhoward

There was a recent survey that went viral which asked:

Would America be better off if more people worked in factories? To which 80% said yes.

Then it asked. Would you be better off working in a factory? To which 25% said yes.

There are something like 500,000 open manufacturing jobs in the US right now.

I love manufacturing. The problems are interesting, it requires excellence in every aspect of business, including engineering, quality, facilities, marketing, finance, IT, human resources. It takes entrepreneurialism, capital and labor.

But, I think there are a lot more people in this country that want the US to increase domestic manufacturing than that want to manufacturer things themselves. People want to buy US made products, they don't want to themselves make products. A generalization I realize.

A factor to consider is that in the near future much of the MUNDANE manufacturing will be done by robotics. More products made by fewer people.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by Andyb

What bothers me is China makes most of our prescription medicine. What are we really getting? They don’t care. Time to bring manufacturing back to the US.

If more prescription medication were made in the US then we would have better control of the quality.

[jimhoward]

Originally Posted by jimjamuser

A factor to consider is that in the near future much of the MUNDANE manufacturing will be done by robotics. More products made by fewer people.

That makes manufacturing even better. It means we can make more stuff to potentially export with fewer people on the floor and less labor cost issues.

But I realize I may be commenting on the wrong thread, as this one is about China stopping Boeing deliveries and I was talking more generally about bringing manufacturing jobs to the US.

[Arctic Fox]

Americans started buying Japanese cars in quantity in the 1970's, not because they were unpatriotic but because they wanted a reliable vehicle that would get them from A to B. American cars, largely made in unionized factories, were not fit for purpose.

Merely shifting production back to the USA is not going to work unless quality, and value for money, can be assured.

[Normal]

Originally Posted by Arctic Fox

Americans started buying Japanese cars in quantity in the 1970's, not because they were unpatriotic but because they wanted a reliable vehicle that would get them from A to B. American cars, largely made in unionized factories, were not fit for purpose.

Merely shifting production back to the USA is not going to work unless quality, and value for money, can be assured.

///

[Normal]

Originally Posted by Arctic Fox

Americans started buying Japanese cars in quantity in the 1970's, not because they were unpatriotic but because they wanted a reliable vehicle that would get them from A to B. American cars, largely made in unionized factories, were not fit for purpose.

Merely shifting production back to the USA is not going to work unless quality, and value for money, can be assured.

Americans were behind the 8 ball for a while with Japan and Korea and not just in the automobile sector. Most televisions, radios, toys etc were generally made in the Orient We fixed that through the years with tariffs and trade deals. Reagan did the biggest move with the 100% tariff on all Japanese goods. Of course in 95 both sides came to the table and things have been great ever since. . Unfortunately, it seems we have to go through those growing pains with China now.

[daniel200]

Originally Posted by Lottoguy

Say goodbye to more then just Dollar Stores. All those nice little shops like the one about to open in Eastport will close up. BTW Walmart gets 80% of their inventory from China.

Dollar Stores will disappear. $5 stores will replace them.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by MollyJo

Exactly. Corporate greed.
Be careful what you wish for.

"Corporate" greed = "stockholder demands."

Stockholders = mostly Americans. Americans = taxpayers.

It's a vicious cycle. In order to please the stockholders, corporations MUST turn a profit. The more they profit, the happier the stockholders, the more successful the corporation, the more stockholders they have, the more profits they have to gain, the happier the stockholders, the more successful the corporation, and so on ad infinitum.

The opposite of this is - communism. Which is something this country isn't interested in. We are a capitalistic society, we thrive on consumerism. In order to do that, we MUST allow our corporations to profit, and if that means they have to trade globally, then that's what it means.

You can't have it both ways. You're finding this out now. Tariffs hurt consumers, which hurts local businesses, which either are affiliated with or acquire goods from corporations. Corporations take a dive in profits when the local businesses suffer, and then the corporate stockholders get upset, and that hurts the corporations.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by Andyb

What bothers me is China makes most of our prescription medicine. What are we really getting? They don’t care. Time to bring manufacturing back to the US.

Most of it comes from India. China is in second place. The difference between first and second place is pretty profound though. Around 45% of our medicine comes from India. Less than 20% comes from China. The rest comes from various other countries, including being made here in the USA.

[fdpaq0580]

Originally Posted by Andyb

What bothers me is China makes most of our prescription medicine. What are we really getting? They don’t care. Time to bring manufacturing back to the US.

They won't poison us. At least not right away. They will just make a nice profit treating our symptoms. Hope you feel better now.

[RICH1]

Originally Posted by Ralph Cramdon

It’s fascinating how often people blame China for the loss of U.S. jobs, rather than the companies that chose to move operations there in pursuit of higher profits.

EXACTLY .... Corporate Greed !
evidently Americans have a difficult time with their memory!
China will Capitalize on Our terrible Trade policies..

[CybrSage]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

- By "trumped up taxes" do you mean the current criticism of VAT? If products manufactured in their country are charged a VAT when sold then how is it a "trumped up tax" if products imported to their country are charged the same tax? Should a country only tax only homegrown products and not imports? Does it feel like a "trumped up tax" when Florida charges sales tax on imported products?

VAT is not charged on things made locally, it is charged on things not made locally.
VAT, in the EU is not charged on things made in the EU, it is on things made in the US and other non-EU countries.
A 20% VAT is simply a 20% tariffs that the consumer pays directly.