No I don't have a link but my husband worked in the machine tool business for many years before he died. His last position was representing Japan Machinery. He mentioned in many conversations that machine tool builders had moved to Korea, Japan, Poland and now of course China.There is a difference between "machine tool builders had moved to Korea, Japan, Poland and now of course China" and "Now, there is NO machine tool industry in this country. Everything is overseas".
Machine-tool production (cutting and forming types) in millions of U.S. dollars
|
|
|
- 2004 (est.) Production - |
- 2003 (rev.) - |
- Change - |
| |
|
|
$-Millions |
$-Millions |
in local |
in U.S. |
| |
|
Country |
Total |
% Cut |
% Form |
Total |
currency |
dollars |
| 1. |
Japan |
10,521.0 |
88% |
11.9% |
7,885.9 |
24% |
33% |
| 2. |
Germany |
9,216.2 |
73% |
27.5% |
7,737.7 |
8% |
19% |
| 3. |
Italy |
4,639.2 |
55% |
45.0% |
4,154.1 |
2% |
12% |
| 4. |
China, Peoples Rep. |
4,000.0 |
77% |
23.3% |
2,980.0 |
$ |
34% |
| 5. |
Taiwan |
2,892.2 |
75% |
25.3% |
2,110.8 |
33% |
37% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 6. |
United States |
2,814.2 |
80% |
20.4% |
2,274.0 |
24% |
24% |
| 7. |
Switzerland |
2,360.0 |
85% |
15.0% |
1,879.4 |
14% |
26% |
| 8. |
Korea, Rep. of |
2,298.9 |
66% |
33.5% |
2,087.7 |
$ |
10% |
| 9. |
Spain |
1,023.5 |
65% |
35.4% |
926.1 |
0% |
11% |
| 10. |
United Kingdom |
877.2 |
81% |
18.8% |
664.2 |
18% |
32% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 11. |
France |
766.4 |
70% |
30.0% |
733.0 |
-5% |
5% |
| 12. |
Canada |
u742.2 |
60% |
40.0% |
689.6 |
0% |
8% |
| 13. |
Brazil |
463.8 |
81% |
19.0% |
371.4 |
$ |
25% |
| 14. |
Turkey |
322.9 |
31% |
69.4% |
248.2 |
18% |
30% |
| 15. |
Czech Republic |
278.1 |
94% |
6.2% |
220.4 |
15% |
26% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 16. |
Austria |
254.6 |
60% |
40.0% |
220.2 |
5% |
16% |
| 17. |
Sweden |
254.6 |
40% |
60.0% |
219.1 |
6% |
16% |
| 18. |
Netherlands |
254.6 |
20% |
80.0% |
228.1 |
1% |
12% |
| 19. |
India |
220.6 |
87% |
13.0% |
145.3 |
47% |
52% |
| 20. |
Finland |
198.7 |
12% |
88.0% |
169.4 |
7% |
17% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 21. |
Belgium |
193.8 |
10% |
90.0% |
186.4 |
-5% |
4% |
| 22. |
Russia |
161.4 |
77% |
23.2% |
156.4 |
3% |
3% |
| 23. |
Australia |
136.0 |
71% |
29.4% |
128.2 |
$ |
6% |
| 24. |
Thailand |
u121.9 |
80% |
20.0% |
118.1 |
0% |
3% |
| 25. |
Denmark |
84.5 |
40% |
60.0% |
72.3 |
6% |
17% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 26. |
Croatia |
67.0 |
100% |
0.0% |
63.0 |
$ |
6% |
| 27. |
Romania |
59.3 |
56% |
43.5% |
53.1 |
$ |
12% |
| 28. |
Portugal |
42.2 |
10% |
90.0% |
37.3 |
3% |
13% |
| 29. |
Argentina |
15.2 |
69% |
30.9% |
14.5 |
$ |
5% |
| 30. |
Hungary |
u9.9 |
65% |
35.5% |
c9.0 |
0% |
11% |
| 31. |
South Africa |
u5.3 |
29% |
70.6% |
4.5 |
0% |
17% |
| |
|
Total |
$45,295.6 |
|
|
$36,787.4 |
|
23% |
| |
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| |
|
Source: Gardner Publications, Inc. |
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u = unrevised from previous year but converted at current rates |
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c = circa; rough estimate from fragmentary reports |
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$ = figures are reported in U.S. dollars |
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World Machine Tool Output
The Rand Institute conducted a study about the decline of the American machine tool industry in the 1980s, a summary of which is available at http://www.rand.org/publications/RB/RB1500/. Prior to 1982, the U.S. was first or a close second to Germany in the production of machine tools on a worldwide basis. By 1992, the end of the scope of this study, America had fallen to fourth place while Japan accelerated to the number one spot. The Rand paper blamed the decline in American machine tool production to better technology on the part of the Japanese, superior Japanese speed in production, and the high value of the dollar in relation to other currencies.
A relatively weak machine tools industry cannot be beneficial to the United States in the long run. We cannot be assured that our external threat will continue to be the so-called Fourth Generation of borderless war with Islamic extremist terrorists. China is acting more and more like a first class power. They have a rapidly expanding industrial sector, the nation can essentially feed itself, and are building their military forces. Zimbabwe is basically becoming a Chinese protectorate, and the Chinese are making deals with Venezuela, Brazil, and even Canada for oil and other goods. (Keep in mind that Marxists are in charge of the first two countries.)
From a national defense standpoint, CAFTA may not be a bad deal because it would pull Central America closer to the American orbit. With China having major shipping facilities at the Panama Canal and Daniel Ortega and his Communist Sandinistas the number two political party in Nicaragua, there is serious peril to U.S. interests in this region.
Whatever the merits of the agreement, the fact remains that an America with a weakened ability to produce airplanes, tanks, missiles, warships, and even military firearms would be at a disadvantage in a major war. An important lesson of our Civil War and the two World Wars is that military power and industrial prowess are closely related. Remember that the South won most of the battles, particularly in the first two years, but lost the war. We may still be able to produce warplanes and submarines that can run circles around anything China may have, but without a strong industrial base with the ability to produce large quantities quickly, our high tech products will be as futile as the Nazi "wonder weapons" were in 1944 and 1945.
