Remind me again why we keep importing propducts from China?

[Pete H]

Not to sound like I walked to school in the snow up hill everyday, but at 44, I grew up working in an agricultural area, and that was just what you did! (Work) for the things that you want. There are so many kids and young adults that couldn't even go 1 day in the field with me, because they have no self respect or appreciation for morals. I've raised my share of he%^, and though I could have done more with my life, I still earn more than the average college degreed person that got their masters. I never thought I would say this, but I must be getting old, the children that we are producing and rasing, ( for the most part as there are exceptions ) have no clue how to take care of themselves and earn a living and that's not there fault, it's their parants problem.

[kelA]

Because the Chinese govt. is starting to question how we are going to repay them our debt.

[mark1101]

This all started when the BEAN COUNTERS made their way into executive roles. It used to be eningeers with MBAs and then marketing folks that ran companies (design and manufacturing operations). But now, it is the money men. They figured out long ago that factory space taken up with machines making raw parts for finished products is inefficient. That floor space makes more money if product is assembled on it. So, out go the machines, replaced with product assembly lines. The raw parts are now outsourced from China because they are technically capable and cheap. Software to India for the same reasons. Once this caught on then those US companies who didn't take this route could not remain competive in the pricing of their products.

Largely, our manufacturing infrastructure is gone. We have seen China recognize this.......that we can no longer make the parts, that we are dependent on suppliers. They have begun to raise their prices. We took the bait long ago.

The purchasing organization where I work is an ARMY, and they know how to get what they want and need. Our business is all about purchasing now and support from suppliers.

[Tom Adams]

Mark - are you sure we don't work for the same company?? []

Seriously.....it's the same here. Our "Purchasing" department is HUGE and although we still have the capability to make parts it's scaled back to support spare or "HOT" parts. However......

There does seem to be some bright spots here & there mostly at the hands of foreign manufacturers such as the new KIA plant in Columbus, GA and the various BMW, Honda, Toyota, MB, etc. plants. What doesn't make sense to me is how can Kia or Honda use American workers and build a fine product at competitive prices, yet GM cannot even when they manufacture & assemble in Canada or Mexico. Anyhow........

And then there are gems like Lee Conn & Brian Case who intend to build a new all-American designed, manufactured, and assembled motorcycle (Motus) in Alabama. And this is what I found interesting in the Feb. 2010 Motorcyclist article, Lee Conn said, "The recession has allowed us to access resources that were otherwise inaccessable. We have manufacturers (U.S.) working with us that five years ago would not have even talked to us. And remember, 60% of today's Fortune 500 companies were started during a recession". To me, that is what America is all about and what gives me hope that America and AMERICANS will still succeed in spite of what the idiots in our Imperial Federal Goverment do. [:@]

Sadly, more & more of us are almost forced into buying "cheap" foreign made items when our buyng power is not only diminished by a weak dollar or inflation, but also because the 2% or 3% pay increases don't off-set inflation and the rising costs of goods & services resulting in having LESS money. This gets back Mark to your comment about the bean counters and their impact. I also feel that as investors scream ever louder for greater & greater returns on their investments, it forces top executives to revist the age old question of whether you really can't get blood from a turnip. IMHO. at some point, greed becomes the cancer that kills the game for all of us.

And then there's the data driven rationalized need for spending $1M dollars to fund Lean Six Sigma programs in order to save $500K. I will stop here for this is a subject that just p!sses me off to no extent!

Tom

[Invidiosulus]

They really nasty ones would ask if XX handgun was made in America. I would answer "Yes, it is."............."South America." The gun in question was made in Brasil.

I've got one of those(Rossi .38 spl).

I like my made in Italy Beretta's better than the Made in USA Beretta's I've seen although there isn't that much difference.

-Josh

[mungkiman]

One reason:

[neo33]

Krell Industries.

McIntosh Labs.

Sadly, Klipsch is not 100% on the list.

The list of products made in the USA would be easier.

Thanx, Russ

[Colin]

You have to decide what your time and money is

worth.

Look at 2002 data:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EKF/is_23_48/ai_87015253/?tag=content;col1

Do you want to pay $1 or $20/hr to have your goods made?

If 40% of the goods we consume in our high-energy lifestyle come from China, and 1/3 of our household

budget is consumption, then switching to U.S. only goods could be

very expensive! For you. If labor is 1/3 of the cost of producing an item, say the

economist’s classic widget, then a $3 widget from China could cost as much as

$23 here in the U.S. For households with a fixed

amount of money to spend on widgets, that means they can afford SEVEN times

less U.S. widgets! From China, that means we purchase

less:

• Electrical

  machinery & equipment

• Power generation

  equipment

• Toys & games
• Apparel
• Furniture
• Iron & steel (industries

  very damaging to the local environment)

• Footwear &

  parts

• Plastics &

  articles

• Leather &

  travel goods

• Vehicles other than

  railway

Chinese power generation equipment may not matter to most

people, but for specific families, buying only U.S.

goods means receiving not a choice of seven widgets, but just one; only one

game, or a shirt or a pair of shoes. Certainly not all three or all seven of such

widgets. Is it any wonder that the strongest empires on the planet always

choose to purchase their goods from weaker, lower labor cost countries? Romans,

British, Spanish and French; the colonization of trade was about cheap imports.

[germerikan]

Is it any wonder that the strongest empires on the planet always choose to purchase their goods from weaker, lower labor cost countries? Romans, British, Spanish and French; the colonization of trade was about cheap imports.

And everyone knows what happened to them!!!

[Hifi jim]

Krell Industries.

No longer. Krell's new S series is made in China.

Sadly, Klipsch is not 100% on the list.

Klipsch is more off the list than on it. Only Heritage, three models from the Reference series and the P-39F are made in the US. A majority of the Klipsch catalog is made overseas.

[germerikan]

At least the "important" products are staying in the US. When the made in USA stamp goes on the box it should be top quality!!

[Hifi jim]

Chinese power generation equipment may not matter to most

people, but for specific families, buying only U.S.

goods means receiving not a choice of seven widgets, but just one; only one

game, or a shirt or a pair of shoes. Certainly not all three or all seven of such

widgets. Is it any wonder that the strongest empires on the planet always

choose to purchase their goods from weaker, lower labor cost countries? Romans,

British, Spanish and French; the colonization of trade was about cheap imports.

Yes, but tax the imports to level the playing field and what happens? More widgets are made in the US, and the workers who produce those widgets are gainfully employed with decent salaries thus stimulating their OWN economy. This should have been done to protect American workers and the US economy, too late now I guess. European and Asian countries have had high tariffs on US products for years... what were we thinking?

[germerikan]

I think, at least here, the problem was the strong dollar. When I first got here it was outrageous at 1,85 Dmark to a dollar. Of course then the American products were just to expensive. Later with the Euro I cannot say, I would think it is getting better though because of the strong Euro. I myself missed the US Beef but the import restrictions due to the "don´t use steroids" crowd was stronger.

Now at least we are getting the beef but at a very high price. 2 to 3 times the German, only to be topped by the Irish beef at 3 to 4 times.

[Tom Adams]

Several times in this thread folks have mentioned (in so many words) that U.S. manufacturing was going away. I don't understand what that means. From my perspective, there appears to be a rather healthy manufacturing base. It could be better, sure. But I don't see anything going away.

Someone wanna 'splain it to me??

Tom

[JL Sargent]

Tom, look at our Gross National Product vs National Debt. I think we are at 11% greater debt right now. Anything over 3% is considered unsustainable in the long run IIRC.

[Bill H.]

Cause we like having a surplus of Bright Orange Shipping containers ?

[Pete H]

Cause we like having a surplus of Bright Orange Shipping containers ?

Nice Bill, let's keep it light.[]

[Tom Adams]

Tom, look at our Gross National Product vs National Debt. I think we are at 11% greater debt right now. Anything over 3% is considered unsustainable in the long run IIRC.

I think I understand that. However.......

There is a pretty solid manufacturing base in this country in the form of foreign auto makers and all of the newly opened factories here in the southeast. To be sure I wish they were all U.S. manufacturers, but at least BMW and Hyundai and Toyota and Kia and Mercedes Benz, etc. are building factories that will employ U.S. workers. And, I might add, due to the sophisticated manufacturing methods in these new plants, the workers are not only higher skilled but their pay is better too - i.e. they have more $$ to spend and pay more taxes. Mitsubishi Electronics is poised to build a new plant not far from where I live which will be a HUGE boost to the economy of that small town.

Do we need more of this? I say absolutely for I'm a bit old school when it comes to my thinking about what type of industry this country needs to turn our economy around. However, for every one plant that GM shuts down there seems to be two that get built by foreign investors. Poo poo them all you want, but I'm gald the foriegn companies have faith that American workers can build a quality product and are spending their capital here.

Tom

[Fish]

Hm.........so many good answers I could think of nothin' to say...............except,we're in trouble,deep.

[JJkizak]

JL Sargent:
The Bush administration said 7% was just fine and no big deal.

JJK