The U.S. market: More appealing for manufactureres than ever

Posted by aburke on 02/08/2012

According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, the American market is “shining brighter than ever” and that many American manufacturers are choosing to build capacity right here at home:

“With growth slowing in China and a slump gripping much of Europe, companies are adding capacity in the U.S., replacing aging equipment and even moving overseas production back from low-cost labor markets, a sign that corporate America could be poised to take a bigger role in the economic recovery.”

Manufacturing is slowly but surely becoming a bright spot in our economic recovery—a phenomenon that has not gone unnoticed by White House, as was evident during President Obama’s heavy focus on manufacturing during his recent State of the Union address.

According to the WSJ, this manufacturing “sea change” has not gone unnoticed by American companies:

"It is an environment that feels like it is building momentum," William Plummer, United Rentals' chief financial officer, said in an interview. "We are coming out of the depths of the recession and are starting to build momentum on the upside."

And as for the “money-saving” practice of offshoring production, many companies are happy to admit that it’s actually cheaper for them to keep production local:

"We find it as cheap to manufacture in the U.S. as China," [Chief Executive of Carlisle Companies, a small conglomerate that makes insulation, tires and restaurant supplies] Dave Roberts wrote in an email. "We will still manufacture in China, but the idea would be to manufacture product for Asia in Asia, for the U.S. in the U.S."

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