The lure of 'Made in America' ~ ..... foreign companies are looking anew at U.S.

MarketWatch ^ | Dec. 14, 2007 | Aude Lagorce,

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Weak dollar, costly crude mean foreign companies are looking anew at U.S.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Forget about China, the U.S. is the new hot spot for global firms looking for lower production and transport costs, increased supply-chain flexibility and a crack at wooing the world's most demanding customers.

France's Alstom a maker of high-speed trains and power turbines, this week became the latest European firm to unveil plans for a facility across the Atlantic. The group said it will build a $200 million plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., to mitigate the impact of the weak dollar on its margins and to get closer to some of its biggest customers.

n recent months, companies ranging from car makers Fiat Spa and Volkswagen AG , to German steel behemoth Thyssenkrupp AG and South Korean consumer-electronics maker Samsung Electronics , have either publicly debated or set in motion plans for a U.S. plant.

"They're worried about the movement of the dollar, so moving to a dollar-zone takes a big element of risk out of the equation," said Richard Gane, a director in PricewaterhouseCoopers operational consulting business.

The trend reflects a notable shift in strategy.

"Long-term, a very high euro level is not good news," Chairman Patrick Kron told French radio Europe 1 in an interview. "Let me also add the issue of volatility. We are in a heavy industry and exchange rates that change at the pace they're changing at add to the difficulty," he said.

The dollar has lost roughly 20% against the euro in the last two years. It's also declined about 14% against the British pound.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Partly as result of that depreciation, Alstom and other large firms with global exposure are taking a fresh look at the U.S. as an attractive location for new facilities.

[2banana]

Well - yahoo.

In 3-4 years, when these plants come on line - some people will get a job. In the meantime - that is 3-4 years of saome pain...

[JeeperFreeper]

Bet they stay outta blue unionized states, too, when they begin to nose around for a place to open shop.

[1rudeboy]

Every silver lining has a dark cloud.

[Brilliant]

That, plus they assume that Hillary will not nationalize their property. But then they believed Hugo and Fidel as well.

[mysterio]

All we have to do is devalue the dollar some more, and we can be just like China! Those lucky dogs get 25 cents an hour and even get their own cot at the factory where they live!

[1rudeboy]

You will need to help me follow your reasoning: we should not allow factories to be built here, in order to avoid being paid slave wages and sleeping on a cot at the factory?

[Mind-numbed Robot]

Those lucky dogs get 25 cents an hour and even get their own cot at the factory where they live!

In the land of the blind a one-eyed man is king. In other words, relativeness.

[dit_xi]

Well, well...opening companies American won’t open.

[mysterio]

No, we should stop borrowing and devaluing our dollar.

[RolandBurnam]

the powers that be just want some hard assets here to take-over once the economy collapses.

[Ditto]

No, we should stop borrowing and devaluing our dollar.

How about if the EU stops inflating the Euro.

It's all relative and the slide in the dollar has been a very good thing for the US manufacturing and exporting sector.

[aroundabout]

Lower dollar value =increased investment in America. The free market works fine if it is left alone to work its magic.

[aroundabout]

Exactly and the Europeans are very unhappy about the disparity between their currency and ours because it is killing their sales to us.

[Beagle8U]

“No, we should stop borrowing and devaluing our dollar.”

That is the Ron Paul plan. Go back to gold dollars.

That way if you want to grow the economy you just mine more gold.

[chopperman]

As I recall, Alstom, some time ago, bought out part of Westinghouse and proceeded to shut down their union shops over here.

[Billthedrill]

There is also a certain attraction to productive, relatively literate, 40-hour-a-week workers who don’t take three months’ vacation and don’t go on strike every time the government says something the unions don’t like. OTOH, every single one of the workers in Europe speaks a foreign language... ;-)

[PGalt]

Interesting. Forget about China and The Peoples Republic of Michigan. /sarcasm. Thanks for posting.

[mysterio]

It's all relative and the slide in the dollar has been a very good thing for the US manufacturing and exporting sector.

Well, that's good. Because for the rest of us, it's been a nice little pay cut.

[mysterio]

That is the Ron Paul plan. Go back to gold dollars.

When did I ever advocate that? So let me get this straight, you are against our government only spending within its means?