anything made in US anymore?

[onemorecast56]

I hardly ever say anything about politics on here but just got too now! I work for UPS packing computer parts all day. I got to noticing that everything says "MADE IN CHINA" and i was really wondering why we can make the same parts as easy and make work for us instead of China,,well i posted that remark on FB and got some unstettling replys..about they could do it cheaper and all. That the people over here wont work that cheap. Hell i got a 10 buck a hour job and pretty dam happy i got it,,wont get rich but I live. But was working on a boat rebuild a few minutes ago and had a set of seat pedistals sent to me,,i was taking them out of the package when i seen "MADE IN CHINA"!!!!!!! dO THEY EVEN FISH THERE? why can`t they be made in USA,,people out of work here,,somebody needs to do something! Don`t understand. most out fishing stuff is made in China now,,looked at the packageing..time to do something,,bring out sport back to the US and stop sending money over seas when we can make the same thing..what is wrong with this country!

[Whitebass]

I agree with every word your sayin. If the American Gov. would pay more atttention to how the American people need the jobs. Then all this crap being made overseas would about come to a halt.

Same thing for all those commercials showing all those starving kids in other countries.... I bet none of those other countries show all the starving kids here in the United States...Srry but I say feed and employ your own people before you go donating our American tax dollars to feed someone else or employ them...

Americans come first, not last of which I have noticed about how the Obama Administration sees how we should live and be treated....

[know1]

I'll agree with some of the replies you got on Facebook. Americans won't work for that cheap. Plus, unions are one of the biggest factors that push jobs overseas.

[onemorecast56]

going to catch hell over this,,i know unions was at one time a good thing,,and still are to a point,,but come on and lighten up on it..we need jobs,,stop getting stuff from over seas,,and US people stop working the system and get there free money,,stop that crap too,,,hate going to the store buying the bare min to eat and here comes come body packin a whole cart full of steaks which i ain`t had one in monthes,,and other crap they don`t need and pay for it with a ebt card,,,sorry just really PO`ed right now,,make them go pick up trash,,paint sidewalks what ever,,,

[DJD]

going to catch hell over this,,i know unions was at one time a good thing,,and still are to a point,,but come on and lighten up on it..we need jobs,,stop getting stuff from over seas,,and US people stop working the system and get there free money,,stop that crap too,,,hate going to the store buying the bare min to eat and here comes come body packin a whole cart full of steaks which i ain`t had one in monthes,,and other crap they don`t need and pay for it with a ebt card,,,sorry just really PO`ed right now,,make them go pick up trash,,paint sidewalks what ever,,,

Hahaha let it out man!! I been on that road myself....I'm sick of the entitlement attitude and the Politicians who push it for the own agenda. People that need help are hard to distinguish form folks that abuse a system that is reckless and mis managed.
Unions have been a major problem for years but folks who are union don't see it that way. It's another example of an organization that is mis managed and abusive(not every single union but as a whole) Funny how they have soooo many ties to the gubment as well.

[RoadToad]

People love to blame this all on unions, but they're only a small part of the picture. The way China's economy is growing, wages are going up, and it is becoming less and less economical to relocate manufacturing there. Some companies are already moving those jobs back here, and as China's economy continues to grow, I think we're going to see more and more of that. If you look at the companies that have reincorporated outside the US, like Cisco for example, they'll tell you the move had little or nothing to do with wages, and everything to do with taxes. All they have to do is get a small office, or sometimes just post office box, and suddenly their tax rate goes from 35% to 20%, or even lower. It's easy to say they're being un-American, avoiding taxes in the country where they started up, and still do most of their business, but they have a duty to their stockholders to do what's best for the company. Yes, you're hearing this from me, a lifelong liberal, but we need to reduce the tax rate on corporations (NOT individuals), or at the very least give them the "tax holiday" that Cisco is pushing for: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2382703,00.asp
That would mean a LOT of money brought back into the U.S., something we could really use right about now.

[Hlleonard]

I hardly ever say anything about politics on here but just got too now! I work for UPS packing computer parts all day. I got to noticing that everything says "MADE IN CHINA" and i was really wondering why we can make the same parts as easy and make work for us instead of China,,well i posted that remark on FB and got some unstettling replys..about they could do it cheaper and all. That the people over here wont work that cheap. Hell i got a 10 buck a hour job and pretty dam happy i got it,,wont get rich but I live. But was working on a boat rebuild a few minutes ago and had a set of seat pedistals sent to me,,i was taking them out of the package when i seen "MADE IN CHINA"!!!!!!! dO THEY EVEN FISH THERE? why can`t they be made in USA,,people out of work here,,somebody needs to do something! Don`t understand. most out fishing stuff is made in China now,,looked at the packageing..time to do something,,bring out sport back to the US and stop sending money over seas when we can make the same thing..what is wrong with this country!

--
My hats off to you, Anybody that can take care of his family, provide them with a home, provide them with a vehicle of some kind, provide them with healthcare, provide his kids with an education, save for his retirement and pay his taxes with 1600 dollars a month is a super hero and the rest of us don't need unions,we just need to learn the secrets of how this works...I am retired with just me to care for (no wife and two kids) and I would have to make some serious cutbacks to get by on 1600 dollars a month.

[DJD]

People love to blame this all on unions, but they're only a small part of the picture. The way China's economy is growing, wages are going up, and it is becoming less and less economical to relocate manufacturing there. Some companies are already moving those jobs back here, and as China's economy continues to grow, I think we're going to see more and more of that. If you look at the companies that have reincorporated outside the US, like Cisco for example, they'll tell you the move had little or nothing to do with wages, and everything to do with taxes. All they have to do is get a small office, or sometimes just post office box, and suddenly their tax rate goes from 35% to 20%, or even lower. It's easy to say they're being un-American, avoiding taxes in the country where they started up, and still do most of their business, but they have a duty to their stockholders to do what's best for the company. Yes, you're hearing this from me, a lifelong liberal, but we need to reduce the tax rate on corporations (NOT individuals), or at the very least give them the "tax holiday" that Cisco is pushing for: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2382703,00.asp
That would mean a LOT of money brought back into the U.S., something we could really use right about now.

RT,
Regardless of party lines...bringing jobs and corporations back here is right for the country.
I watched a piece on this topic last year. I cant remember the elected official but he said the corporate lawyers always find way to beat their laws to tax them more. Then he was asked the obvious question...why not reduce the taxes to be competitive with other countries to bring some of the jobs back and money from taxes. He didn't say anything that indicated his mindset would change. He said it was a game and that really pissed me off because it is a game to them.
Unions cannot be blamed for everything but I place alot of blame on them. I guess my experiences with some of them has made my mind up. If I had to say what the biggest down fall has been to the USA I would say our politicians sleeping with all the devils who have manipulated them to do what they want. Could be via votes, money, clout or other things but lobbyists and just flat out bad decisions by theses idiots have caused this. I don't blame the working man I blame the corrupt gubment....that includes all parties.

[waterdog101]

People love to blame this all on unions, but they're only a small part of the picture. The way China's economy is growing, wages are going up, and it is becoming less and less economical to relocate manufacturing there. Some companies are already moving those jobs back here, and as China's economy continues to grow, I think we're going to see more and more of that. If you look at the companies that have reincorporated outside the US, like Cisco for example, they'll tell you the move had little or nothing to do with wages, and everything to do with taxes. All they have to do is get a small office, or sometimes just post office box, and suddenly their tax rate goes from 35% to 20%, or even lower. It's easy to say they're being un-American, avoiding taxes in the country where they started up, and still do most of their business, but they have a duty to their stockholders to do what's best for the company. Yes, you're hearing this from me, a lifelong liberal, but we need to reduce the tax rate on corporations (NOT individuals), or at the very least give them the "tax holiday" that Cisco is pushing for: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2382703,00.asp
That would mean a LOT of money brought back into the U.S., something we could really use right about now.

the corporations, have all the politicians in Washington in their pocket as it is. they pass laws all the time in favor of the big corporations, filling their pockets and picking ours. I say if a corporation moves jobs overseas to make money, let them pay tax on it, or leave it over there. and maybe the corporations will think twice about sending their money overseas. if they can move jobs over there and use child labor to make billions and bring the billions back here tax free, there will never be any jobs brought back.

[Bill M of NJ]

NAFTA made it easy for companies to manufacture outside our borders, I was a NAFTA casuality, on my feet these days but I was lucky enough to be a good toolmaker/machinist to survive. I read in a manufacturing magazine that a large company would love to come back to the USA because it would be cheaper, problem is in China they can fill a city with toolmakers and machinists, but here in the USA they are lucky to fill a hotel room, so they stay in China. Not sure if I buy that but it must have some truth since most people have no idea what I do for a living.

[MrSplitshot]

A different spin...

In the early 2000's, my industry (tires) saw a huge influx of tires into the US that were being manufactured in China. Off brand, low quality, no warranties...just cheap crap that was killing US Manufacturers. To compete, the U.S. Manufacturers were having to look outside the U.S. for production themselves, jobs lost. When folks would go to buy tires for their vehicle, a good many were choosing the Chinese imports because they were drastically cheaper than the domestic product. Americans want cheap products....just ask Wal-Mart.

Obama, in one of his first trade policy decisions, established a Tariff on Chinese import tires in September of 2009. It was 35% the first year, 30% the second, and 25% the third. This made the US Steelworkers union very happy. (Steel cord in tires.) While it's debatable how many jobs that decision actually saved in the US (some estimate only 1200 jobs), what it did do was bring the tire market in the US to higher pricing. Consumers surely noticed it...and hated it...because tire prices went up, up, up...because they could. There was no competition from China. Tire manufacturers and tire distributors loved it, because any inventory we had on hand at old money appreciated when the prices went up...we made a bit more profit for awhile. By the time you figured the cost of the tariff on tires coming in from China, the American manufacturers could compete with their economy line products and could in fact raise prices on their higher quality lines. (There were also some drastic raw material price increases in there too, like the cost of natural rubber...so it wasn't all the tariff.)

So we saved an estimated 1,200 jobs...but consumers, by some estimates, paid well over $1 Billion dollars in the market on higher prices. That means it cost the American consumers $900K per job saved. Hmmph. If you bought tires for your car or truck in the last couple of years, you know what I mean. Thanks.

Now, that tariff is set to expire in September...and we're already seeing the tire market start to go crazy again. Our industry is waiting to see if Obama makes a move to extend it...in an election year...as appeasement to the unions. In the meantime, Chinese suppliers are sending us price sheets for tires that we can order now that will be built and shipped across the water to us after the tariff is lifted that are 20-30% reductions to the prices that folks have been paying over the last 3 years.

Now, all of that crap is smoke and mirrors. The real question is WHY is it so much cheaper to build tires in China? Quality is actually improving over there in tire plants. Some of the tires actually perform quite well. The cost difference isn't so much labor anymore - It's taxes. On one hand, US companies pay more taxes than any other country in the world. Chinese companies don't, so you've got an advantage from the get-go. The playing field between US and China in regards to trade is not a level one. Companies that make products in the US and try to export them to China to sell in the Chinese economy face heavy border taxation...they pay a ton of taxes to get the products into China. However, on the flip, companies that manufacturer in China and export to the US pay virtually no taxes. They pay a value-added tax to the Chinese government, but I believe that is even rebated to them if they are exporting to the US. It is estimated that something like 20% of China's government revenue is from import taxation...and their export taxation is next to nothing. Couple the tax advantages with what has been cheap labor and an abundance of workers, and boom...make more money manufacturing in China and shipping to the US...and it's easy to sell the products, even if they ****, because a lot of American consumers want to pay for tires on the cheap. The Wal-Mart society wants it now and wants it for pennies.

When competition is restricted (tariff on Chinese imports), prices go up. That's basic Supply and Demand theory.

When competition is free flowing, in a vacuum all other things equal, prices go down, consumers win...and the companies with the best products and best practices survive...so industry wins too. The problem is that we're not in a vacuum...all things aren't equal...and because of gubment taxation in the U.S, the deck is stacked against American Manufacturers in the domestic and global market before the first product is made. It's like lining up to run a marathon and your coach breaks your ankle before the starting pistol fires - Now get out there and compete!

[DJD]

Some of the water treatment plants we are working on require you to install products that are made in the USA. My portion of the project could have 20 different manufactures that i have to research before I can quote their product It about drove me nuts trying to find items with specification sheets that were made in the USA. I had to call many manufactures more than once to get the exact wording included in their letter that they were compliant. It's an eye opener for sure.