The Mall reminder me of a Chinese Bazaar

Good point. Most things end up being about the same... using the jeans as an example, I recall actually paying LESS. Any "savings" on cheap items is cancelled out by paying the price of high unemployment, taxes, etc, due to layoffs.

I would pay a few bucks more to keep jobs here (and I do!). I bought a dolly from Lowes, made in America for only $20, right next to the Chinese one for $18(?)

 

If it's consolation for you guys, cosmetics and skin care from Mary Kay Cosmetics is manufactured in the good ole U.S.A. *

///Michael

* Unless you're outside of North American, then it's manufactured by the factories in their respective regions

 

They really werent meant as 'digs' but I can see why you would think they were.

I bought a Ferrari so Im just as guilty of having more money than common sense. im sorry you took it as an insult...just pointing out a fact about most of us on this forum.

My point was what is the difference between China and Italy ? you still arent supporting the USA. China didnt force us to move our manufacturing there...we did it all on our own to make a few more bucks.

And yes, if you manufactured *most* things in the USA they would retail for 400% more. Certain high technology items wouldnt see that kind of increase but most lower end products that use chemicals or plastics would.

For example, that Spiderman action figure you bought your son for $10...EASY $40 if we tried to make it in the US.

EDIT: Something else we are neglecting to factor in is how incredibly difficult the US government makes it for an entrepreneur to start a manufacturing company here in the states. The hurdles are tremendous and it requires much more capital then starting elsewhere. I, and most of my friends who are in manufacturing, would have never been able to start our companies without a resource like China.

We are our greatest enemy.

 

I agree here if you are referring to the double standard that we have here.

How is an American company supposed to compete with a $25 per week Chinese labor force.
Not to mention FDA requirements, OSHA costs, Health insurance costs, real estate costs etc.

If we the same tariffs on Chinese goods, that they have on American goods, it would be a start in the right direction.

 

Just for the sake of conversation, what is to be gained by making apparel and consumable consumer goods?

Why is it even important that something be made in the USA as opposed to any other country?

 

Lowering the 10% unemployment rate could be a good thing.

 

One thing that does reflect is that Americans are not prepared for the right jobs. Can't just do lazy mindless crap anymore to stay in the lead.

 

Average wage for a low skilled production line worker in China is about $400usd per month. Thats far more than $25usd week. Its not unusual for skilled and valuable factory workers to make $600usd month. Keep in mind the cost of living here is ridiculously low so that $5k-$7kusd per year is equivalent to typical USA minimum wage lifestyle.

There is a LOT of myth floating around about what goes on here.

Just saying...

The bigger problem is not the lower costs in China, its the ridiculously high costs in the States. Adding tariffs to Chinese products is backwards...what we should be doing is helping USA manufacturers get off the ground instead of piling virtually unconquerable restrictions and start up costs on their backs.

I would LOVE to manufacture in the States. I would even accept a 50% increase in my costs. However when you run the numbers its a 100-200% increase in costs to try and manufacture here. its just stupid.

 

You assumption is that everyone can do high tech work.
There is a big part of the population that is well suited for mindless repetitive tasks.
It think it would be getter for them to work in a production environment than as a greeter at Walmart.

 

Doesn't necessarily have to be tech, but it should be more specialized. Problem to boot is that Indian and South Asian kids are making huge leaps in the sciences, even though they're often coming to our schools. The world does need ditch diggers, and there are always localized needs in lesser-skilled labor, but we're getting burned because there are others willing to make more sacrifices and do more focused tasks.

Your assumption was that it is intrinsically better for them to produce something than to be a greeter at WalMart. But why? <-- That's my question.

Why does that occupation need saving? In every major shift where production is offshored - textiles, electronics, cars, etc. - there is a huge fight to save that industry. It's been covered by a lot of op-ed articles and econ literature. Most of it is based on isolationist policies or military/power issues.

 

I have a few friends and clients in the garment industry. I can't remember specific countries but basically a cotton shirt was harvested cotton from US South, sent to Philippines for spinning/weaving, then shipped to Thailand for cutting and sewing, then a third country for tagging and embroidery. Even after all that, shirts were still measured in pennies.

My question is a layer deeper though, why are those ten other jobs that did something replaceable important too? Distributors will still distribute stuff, retail still sells stuff, but if Asia can make a t-shirt for 22 cents why would we even bother? Why not have our $18/hr workers making something more complicated or integral? Don't get me wrong, I LIKE supporting local businesses, but I don't see an advantage to buying American toothbrushes or even shoes over Asian-made ones.

If we have the best tertiary education in the world (despite complaints about early ed and HS, US still dominates university level ed), why aren't people going for skills that make them competitive? What is fascinating is that GM is now having their Chinese division design its own Buicks - when they started there their automotive engineers didn't even have driver's licenses. That alone should be the klaxon to evacuate Detroit now.

 

Maybe, just maybe, our government figures that if we keep the majority of the Chinese population working, that they won't build up their army and start a fight that we would eventually have to get involved in...

Just sayin'

Mike in Kuwait

 

Actually, I think we are funding their military build up with all the crap that we import from China. Taiwan will be the first to fall.

 

The problem with this, is there is NOTHING that we can do that can't be outsourced for less money.

 

Lets see when I worked for that importer our development cost involved buying an American made product, boxing it up and shipping it off to our factory in China to have them copy it. The owner of the company did not care about patents, copyrights, Etc... It was all about the cash ending up in his pocket. On top of that he refused to stand behind the product one single bit.

Wonder why I quit that job as Operations Manager???

 

True, the USA even outsources their military nowadays.

 

Speaking of bazaars, we were at a mall here and the vendors with the portable kiosks were on full ambush mode. And this mall had every square foot inside the aisles crammed with kiosks/trailer things. Talk about annoying.