Posted on 04/24/2003 12:06:07 PM PDT by Willie Green
For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.
When federal officials said they wanted to know what challenges and issues were being faced by American manufacturers, local leaders in the furniture and textile industries were happy to comply - in spades.
Grant Aldonas, undersecretary of international trade for the U.S. Department of Commerce, was in High Point Wednesday for the first stop in a two-month quest to glean input from manufacturers about what they like and don't like about current trade policies and restrictions.
Before an audience of about two dozen, corporate executives each took the podium to say American manufacturers are facing what could be insurmountable odds when it comes to competing with foreign producers.
"U.S. manufacturers are caught in extremely competitive and sometimes unfair circumstances," said Quez Little, of Hickory Hill Furniture Co.
Between soaring healthcare and other employee costs, rising manufacturing expenses and rules that vary from state to state, Little said American production is being backed into a corner.
"It's complicated and costly," Little said. "U.S. manufacturers are being regulated to death, while importers have much less to deal with.
"If competition is the goal, importers should be subject to the same requirements for labor and tariffs. Right now, there is almost an incentive to move offshore."
Driving the trend to ship manufacturing overseas, executives cited the disparity between U.S. workers' salaries and those in less developed countries, a ratio that is often 40- or 50-to-1. Jerry Rowland, president and chief executive officer of National Textiles, quantified the point.
"Insurance costs for one employee, just the expense of their insurance, is five times what the average Chinese worker is paid," Rowland said.
Beyond employee expenses, corporate representatives take issue with how foreign trade agreements are structured, with the advantage almost inevitably going to the other side.
"Even if we had zero labor costs, there would still be some areas in which we couldn't compete," said Andy Warlick, president and chief executive officer for Parkdale Mills. "There is something wrong with a system that allows that situation."
Moreover, Warlick said trade terms written to protect U.S. manufacturers are useless if there are no repercussions when agreements are violated.
"I'm not saying we like all the trade treaties, but if we are going to have a treaty, for God's sake, let's enforce it," he said.
Warlick said officials need to do more when other countries take steps to create an unfair advantage. He cited the example of currency devaluations in Asia.
"It's like taking a 40 percent surcharge and sticking it on the back of American workers and telling them to improvise and overcome," he said. "In countries like Pakistan and Korea, it's part of their trade policies."
Aldonas agreed and said other variables also tend to stack the deck against U.S. interests.
"The (International Monetary Fund) and World Bank have been trying to find themselves, at significant cost to the American taxpayer," Aldonas said. "Continuing on in institutions that don't represent our interests has had a very high cost."
He also said the current administration hopes to change overseas perceptions on issues such as market access.
Referring to the Chinese as an example, he said, "China is in this rush to try to drive up its own standard of living. The point has to be made that we understand that drive, (but) they can't expect all the burden of adjusting to change to fall on the U.S."
The Commerce Department will keep its representatives on the road over the next several weeks. Stops are planned throughout the U.S. and meetings are slated with manufacturing representatives from the auto industry, machine works, tool and die operations, biotechnology and the high tech sector.
Aldonas said input will be gathered into a report and recommendations will be made for direction trade negotiators could take. The report is expected to be released in late June or early July.
Michele Abbott can be contacted at 888-3509 or mabbott@hpe.com
Yep. Playing field is not level.
They are beating us at our own game and we are out of moves. I like to ponder the evolution of this new world. The shifting of relative wealth and spending power. The loss of income to the government offset by an increase in government spending to support those no longer on the tax roles.
We will be in a position not many years hence where we will be ripe for plucking by an extreme nationalist leader, i.e., a dictator of some dress or another.
I hope I'm granted another 30 years on this Earth to see it play out.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.