Posted on 08/23/2004 10:11:25 AM PDT by Willie Green
For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.
HIGH POINT -- State and national economies are gradually improving, but furniture companies continue to announce layoffs despite an effort to stem imports from China.
Last week Hooker Furniture announced it would close a plant in Maiden near Hickory. The move will cost 240 workers their jobs when the shutdown is completed this fall.
The erosion of American furniture manufacturing employment reflects an extended and painful economic structural change, said Don Jud, professor emeritus of business administration at UNC-Greensboro.
"In my view, it's part of a long-term trend that just continues, one that we've already seen in textiles and apparel," Jud said.
Among other furniture manufacturing job losses this year:
The number of American workers in furniture and related products dropped 14 percent from 674,900 in January 2000 to 581,700 in July, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In North Carolina, the furnishings-related work force fell 27 percent from 78,500 in January 2000 to 57,400 in July, according to bureau statistics.
Nearly all major U.S.-based furniture manufacturers have operations in China to take advantage of lower-cost production, Jud said.
"It comes down to the old concept of a shrinking globe," said Jerry Epperson, an industry analyst in Richmond, Va.
Jud said that some level of furniture manufacturing will remain in the United States as companies respond to niche markets or trends.
While overall furniture employment has declined, U.S. manufacturing jobs in wood kitchen cabinets and countertops increased 9 percent from 147,300 in January 2000 to 160,400 in June.
"But a lot of the mass-market stuff I think will be done overseas, and it's made even easier by the decline in international shipping costs," Jud said. "The American consumer has shown that they want to buy quality products at the lowest possible price."
Such a sad trend in America's economy!
Free trade is starting to get quite costly for many Americans.
Yes it is, but it's not unilateral. Europe outsources jobs to the US.
I think the thing to worry about is a bunch of clowns who think that they can keep business here by raising the costs of the employers.
"Nearly all major U.S.-based furniture manufacturers have operations in China to take advantage of lower-cost production,..."
The greedy US workers could have saved their jobs by taking a 75% pay cut and forgone any health care or other benefits. They were just to lazy and greedy to stop the wave of 'free trade' with all of the attendant benefits to the US consumer - it's all for the better good.
'Willie Green' alert.
I couldn't believe it, I bought a masonry tool the other day that was actually "made in America". There were three other same type tools to choose from and all had different pricing and quality. The price I paid for the "made in America tool" was higher but so was the quality.
Can anyone come up with any ideas of to whom this mythical award should be given?
you would have been a hit in england in the 1800's when the united states was carting away english industry!
Federal regulatory policies impose costs on our domestic industries that render them noncompetitive in the global market. To level the playing field, we should shift our tax policy to fund our Treasury with a relatively low, flat-rate revenue tariff placed on all imported goods, offset by a corresponding reduction in the corporate income tax.
If this inconveniences the transnational corporate taliban, I have no sympathy. They merely seek to profit by undermining our domestic industries. I see no reason why my tax dollars should be used to militarily defend their global lust for resources.
Then stop producing mass market stuff and start producing high quality, individualistic "artisan" stuff!
I have a feeling a these companies had a lot of deadwood middle management.
America pioneered the mass production revolution and we will pioneer the move to customized semi-massed production via internet marketing.
I think a lot of Americans would be glad to eliminate preferential treatment (including corporate welfare) to big corporations.
Never happened.
Trade of industrial goods was negligible.
Both nations were engaged in developing and expanding their own industrial infrastructure.
The Chinese are good at carving and woodworking, but the higher end furniture makers like Henredon and Hooker are finding problems with finishes - beware of buying Chinese made furniture if you want quality. Also, they are using ocean going saw mills that also put Americans out of work. Joke is about to be on the Chinese however - they work for 35 cents and hour and the Vietnamese will work for 10 cents -look for a transfer of furniture making from slave state China to slave state Vietnam in the next five years.
To be clear, India and China practice no such thing as "free trade". Protections are profitable and good strategies, borne out by their successes.
Exactly.
"The price I paid for the "made in America tool" was higher but so was the quality."
But it gets to the point where you can't even afford to buy an American-made product, so you have to buy the cheaper overseas product or go without it. Such is the case I think with much of American-made furniture. Much higher quality and better materials, but not within everyone's budget.
That's just what we need...
an industrial infrastructure based on the philosophy of a 1960s hippie commune...
I can see it now...
high-quality, handcrafted tie-die T-shirts, leather sandals, belt buckles, candles, pipes & bongs...
Kumbaya! It's a small, small world!
"This is like deja vu all over again."
~ Yogi Berra
The same thing is happening in the Hardwood flooring industry. Chinese imports are drastically cheaper than are North American (both US and Canadian) made products, and the Chinese are dumping product into this country by the shipload.
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.