Imports force Hooker's downtown factory to close

The Raleigh News & Observer ^ | Thursday, August 7, 2003 | The Associated Press

[Willie Green]

Furniture workers hope petition will help save their jobs from imports

[Willie Green]

ping

[RaceBannon]

"We've got to grin and bear this day out,' Simmons said. "But we know things are going to get worse from here on out until our government wakes up to the realities of what imports are doing to the people it's supposed to be protecting."

Seems to be going around these days. I am going to school to drive a bus next week, school bus part time. It's a paycheck.

[Bob J]

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[Cacophonous]

Thanks.

[Cacophonous]

We gotta do what we gotta do. Good luck to you.

[jimkress]

They make Hookers in a FACTORY? I thought they were born from human parents. The ones seen in the red light districts on TV shows look human to me.

[Oorang]

So what will America be like when almost everything is imported? This is a long term problem and will take a long term solution. Something has to be done to stop the tide from going out, out, out.

Here in the Pacific NW the fruit farmers are suffering terribly due to the massive influx of South America fruit. I went to the "big city" today to do some shopping. In the shoe store I asked the guy helping me "are these shoes made in America"? He looked at me like I was speaking Greek. I asked again, where were the shoes made. He finally checked and said "Brazil". I said no thanks. I always ask, they always give me a funny look. We own a small manufacturing company, employs about 60 people. Believe me, made in USA in a big deal in our household.

If it's any consolation Willie Green, about 3 years ago we spent approx. 30K on new furniture, all made in North Carolina. Had to wait about 3 months for delivery but it was worth it.

[supercat]

It's maddening how little people realize of how much taxation kills domestic production.

Suppose someone wants to be able to put $1 in the pocket of a waitress. For a person to get enough money to have the waitress net $1, the person's employer has to spend more than $2. Of course, even after the waitress has the $1 in her pocket, much of it will still end up being grabbed by the government before ending up in someone else's pocket.

Taxes are strangling our economy. No two ways about it.

[Capriole]

When are we going to wake up and realize that we can't export every job and import every item? If people don't have jobs in this country, where will they get the money to buy those imported goods? The short-sightedness is staggering. We are creating our own depression.

[harpseal]

Another factory closing due to our current trade structure. I note the trade readjustment act benefits for teh workers. This is an additional taxpayer expenditure to support the overseas investment of course.

As always on or off this pind list let me know.

[Cacophonous]

When are we going to wake up and realize that we can't export every job and import every item?

And that's the crux of it. No business ever survived by payout out more than it brought in. None. Ever.

[Uncle Miltie]

"When are we going to wake up and realize that we can't export every job and import every item?

And that's the crux of it. No business ever survived by payout out more than it brought in. None. Ever."

Same with countries. The only reason we can import stuff is because we export other stuff. Sometimes it is movies, sometimes education, sometime stock certificates, and sometimes software.

While our unemployment rate is around 6% and dropping, look at Europe which implements more restrictionist trade policies, and their unemployment rates are 8% - 15% and stable. Shall we join them in restricting trade and killing jobs? It has worked for them for over 20 years.... Double the unemployment line anyone?

[AD from SpringBay]

So what will America be like when almost everything is imported?

We will become the food court and retail outlet for the UN - Chik-Fil-A for all!

[Willie Green]

The only reason we can import stuff is because we export other stuff.

Current account deficit hits record (Trade Deficit)
U.S. Trade Deficit 2nd Highest on Record

TRADE DEFICIT: Formally termed a balance of trade deficit, a condition in which a nation's imports are greater than exports. In other words, a country is buying more stuff for foreigners than foreigners are buying from domestic producers. A trade deficit is usually thought to be bad for a country. For this reason, some countries seek to reduce their trade deficit by--

1. establishing trade barriers on imports,
   
2. reducing the exchange rate (termed devaluation) such that exports are less expensive and imports more expensive, or
   
3. invading foreign countries with sizable armies.

>Well, here are the facts:

Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the measure of the USA's output of goods and services, is calculated by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis using the following items:

• Personal consumption expenditures: Personal consumption expenditures are far and away the largest and tends to be the most stable of the four expenditures, averaging about 65-70% of gross domestic product.
• Gross private domestic investment: Expenditures on capital goods to be used for productive activities in the domestic economy that are undertaken by the business sector during a given time period. Gross private domestic investment tends to be the least stable of the four expenditures, averaging between 12-18% of gross domestic product.
• NET EXPORTS OF GOODS AND SERVICES Net exports of goods and services is the smallest of the four expenditures, averaging around 2% of gross domestic product. Unlike the other expenditures, net exports of goods and services can be either positive or negative. They are positive when exports are greater than imports (Trade Surplus) and negative when exports are less than imports (Trade Deficit). In recent years, net exports of goods and services have been negative.
• Government consumption expenditures and gross investment measures government purchases undertaken by the government sector. Government consumption expenditures and gross investment averages between 15-20% of gross domestic product. This percentage tends to be ebb and flow a little with the political winds.

The BEA News Release for FIRST QUARTER 2003 provides us with the following current data for these items. (Seasonally adjusted at annual rates)

Gross domestic product (GDP)............................. $10,697.7 billion
Personal consumption expenditures.......................... 7,502.8 (70.13% of GDP)
Gross private domestic investment.......................... 1,626.9 (15.21% of GDP)
Net exports of goods and services........................... -485.7 (-4.54% of GDP)
Government consumption expenditures and gross investment... 2,053.6 (19.20% of GDP)

The current BALANCE OF TRADE is in deficit, which is considered unfavorable.
It is SUBTRACTED from those items that comprise GDP.

And at historic highs, it diminishes our domestic economy by about 4½% - more than twice the normal variation. This is NOT insignificant.

[freddies dead]

America;the new source of third world wage workers

[Indrid Cold]

"Nearly 3,000 people have lost their jobs in North Carolina this year as furniture manufacturers close plants and slash work forces, according to the state Employment Security Commission."

I wonder how many of them shopped at Wal-Mart. Probably all of them.

[Gigantor]

We gotta do what we gotta do.

Sometimes a man's gotta do what his judgement tells him circumstances require.

[Ramius]

I would agree that it's a bad thing that U.S. companies can't seem to compete with imports. Beyond all the bellyaching, though, I haven't seen anything from the populist side of the house for what y'all would propose to do about this?

Ban imports?

Ban U.S. companies from establishing facilities anywhere else in the world?

Am I getting this right? The answer to the problem of more companies being chased out of the country is even more regulation?

[Willie Green]

The most sensible solution would be to impose a relatively low (15~20%), flat-rate "revenue tariff" on all imported goods. The proceeds from such a tariff could be used to offset further reduction of other forms of domestic taxation. Such a shift in tax policy would truely stimulate domestic production of goods without plundering the federal Treasury in the process.