Plants Used To Be Built In USA

[BROBS]

Just to play devil's advocate. I work in the manufacturing industry and I see how the "new" generation of factory workers are and I wonder how long my factory will stay open. This new group feels entitled to to much. I hear on a weekly basis " they are lucky I even showed up today"
It makes you wonder how we keep the doors open

That’s why US companies are now ghost ships peddling product from overseas. In all types of business.

 

[BROBS]

As of April 30, 2020, the Mercedes Alabama plant employed over 4,000 people. That only brushes the surface of what having a plant like that in the area does for the positive. There are thousands if not tens of thousands of other people, in the immediate area, who make income from that plant. Machine shops, mold shops, transportation, food and hotel, etc.. You are being extraordinarily short sighted if you think that plant doesn't benefit the local economy immensely. I've seen very close up the devastation left when a large automotive plant closes the doors. Ask Muncie, Anderson and New Castle Indiana if they'd like their automotive plants back.

While the company itself may get many tax incentives and freebies, how about the income taxes on those 4,200 employees? If the average income is $40,000, that generates $168M in taxable income. At a 30% tax rate, that's over $50M in Federal taxes created. When you add in all the other jobs created in the area, well over $100M in Federal taxes are paid. And even with Alabama's low State Income Tax, at even 3% on average, over $5M in State Income taxes are paid.

Most automotive companies also provide fairly reasonable health insurance benefits. Where are all those people going to find comparable jobs with health insurance benefits near Birmingham?

Automation does not eliminate all jobs. You been watching too many Terminator movies. It does indeed decrease the number of manual labor jobs which would be, of course, lower in pay. However, it creates many more technical jobs for people to operate and maintain the machines.

All the steel mills! Oh wait.......... China.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

All the steel mills! Oh wait.......... China.

All? Not true. The US doesn't want that many Steel Plants running in the US. They'd rather peddle the pollution and environmental issues off onto the Chinese. Same is true for a lot of other industries such as castings. You ever toured a large battery manufacturing facility? Most everything in one is toxic and can kill you. Heavy metals and acid.

 

[bent1]

What makes these changes difficult is that there isn’t a clear path for most people to move into high demand fields. There needs to be More apprenticeship programs or partnering with secondary education institutions.

 

[bent1]

All? Not true. The US doesn't want that many Steel Plants running in the US. They'd rather peddle the pollution and environmental issues off onto the Chinese. Same is true for a lot of other industries such as castings. You ever toured a large battery manufacturing facility? Most everything in one is toxic and can kill you. Heavy metals and acid.

Reminds me of Coke plants that burn off coal byproducts, the remaining coke used to make steel.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Reminds me of Coke plants that burn off coal byproducts, the remaining coke used to make steel.

Many of the US Steel companies now are recycling steel and using electric arc furnaces to melt it. Much cleaner process.

 

[peregrinus]

Multiple views are valid. Here’s another.
Coming from a manufacturing and retail perspective I can say that, in general, people’s ideologies (best intentions) are often left at the door when it comes time to actually open their wallets.
People blame the companies for wanting to maximizing profits and companies blame consumers for being satisfied with only reasonable quality with a heavy emphasis on low prices.
If there is market support for $250.00 a pair domestically made 501 Levi’s then they will be built.

On a more immediate level, how many of us support US farmers and limit our tobacco purchases to domestically grown and processed leaf only?

Your hard earned dollars are an important vote.

 

[bent1]

Generally, I’ll forgo spending (in general) so I have funds to purchase good quality products, such as Oshkosh tools.

Tamp Bars • Oshkosh Tools Company Inc.

oshkoshtools.com

 

[rajangan]

Celanese had a cellulose acetate plant in Edmonton that made, among other things, cigarette filter material. For decades, they exported cigarette filters by the ship load to China. One day, they shut down, and over a couple years, dismantled the ancient plant and shipped it to China and put it back together. Thank goodness. It was a lousy place to work.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Multiple views are valid. Here’s another.
Coming from a manufacturing and retail perspective I can say that, in general, people’s ideologies (best intentions) are often left at the door when it comes time to actually open their wallets.
People blame the companies for wanting to maximizing profits and companies blame consumers for being satisfied with only reasonable quality with a heavy emphasis on low prices.
If there is market support for $250.00 a pair domestically made 501 Levi’s then they will be built.

On a more immediate level, how many of us support US farmers and limit our tobacco purchases to domestically grown and processed leaf only?

Your hard earned dollars are an important vote.

Exactly. Very good post. I'm amused at the people who complain about China while they're on the way to Wal Mart to purchase something made in China. Or Indonesia. I've yet to see people that complain about all the offshore stuff who strictly, 100% boycott all the offshore stuff. Of course, they'd have no automobile, computer, TV or cell phone, clothes, etc..

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Exactly. Very good post. I'm amused at the people who complain about China while they're on the way to Wal Mart to purchase something made in China. Or Indonesia. I've yet to see people that complain about all the offshore stuff who strictly, 100% boycott all the offshore stuff. Of course, they'd have no automobile, computer, TV or cell phone, clothes, etc..

Those are either the numbers that were taken when building the plant, which included construction crews or a lie. When I drive by there, there are maybe 100 cars at any one point in time, and the last report on the news was that they were below 400 employees. And, of those 400 3/4th are Japanese engineers, not full citizens who are running the plant. I am not just making this up. This is THE issue of the state.

 

[Old School 3319]

My factory was bought buy a German company with plants all over the world. I have watched them shut plants down all over the world. They are out to make a profit. If they can not for whatever reason people or government or just logistics they close that plant. My plant has been open since 1974 when I started here I thought my children would have a nice place to work when it was time but now I am just hoping to get a few more years to retire

 

[eugenepark]

There are many reasons our manufacturing moved off shore. One of the most serious is, Americans like to buy cheap. Whether it be autos, jeans, pipes, toys, dog food, shoes, TV's, etc., cost is a preeminent consideration for many consumers. Ergo,, American businesses and their shareholders move to avoid taxes they must push down to their customers so, they move offshore to keep costs lower. Remember, consumers pay the taxes, not the corporations. American labor, though it may be very good, is expensive when compared to other locales. As Pogo once observed, "We have met the enemy and, he is us."

Yes this. It's always interesting talking to foreigners about the cost of everyday items, as import duties in other countries are often very severe.

Some examples I can remember:

In South America, video game consoles (Playstation, XBox) are around $200-$300 higher than we pay in the US.

In Thailand, buying foreign made cars is often very expensive.. nearly double what we pay here and then the licensing/taxing structures are often much higher for ongoing ownership.

In Asia, Levis jeans are very expensive so it's not uncommon for visitors here to buy suitcases full of jeans to take back home.

So while the import duties levied by other nations is not really OUR problem, we are rather spoiled when it comes to the consumer experience.

 

[peregrinus]

You have to adapt or wind up in the rubbish.

Old retail axiom:
“Adapt or die. “

 

[warren]

One should keep in mind that those "big corporations" are owned by people like me, like your neighbors, your retirement fund, etc. I want them doing what is necessary to make money. As much as I detest these false "social justice" promotions and support, if they improve the bottom line, secure my retirement programs, improve the moneys thrown off by certain shares, improve the value of shares I hold well, I suppose I can tolerate a bit of it.

I detest the laziness the "Alaskan Permanent Fund" sires in my state. I'm not stupid enough to refuse the annual payout though.

Yup! Adapt or die! God advice for individuals as well as business. Politicians learn that early in life. That adage as well as, "Never take a concrete position on any serious issue."

 

[cosmicfolklore]

In Asia, Levis jeans are very expensive so it's not uncommon for visitors here to buy suitcases full of jeans to take back home.

That's unusual, because they would have been made there. To make it even more odd, you can drive across the border in Mexico and buy genuine Levis for $5 a pair.

 

[Old School 3319]

My kids remind me everytime I say " well back in my day" or " I remember when". That i am an old man and make more now than I did then but its good to complain sometimes.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Those are either the numbers that were taken when building the plant, which included construction crews or a lie. When I drive by there, there are maybe 100 cars at any one point in time, and the last report on the news was that they were below 400 employees. And, of those 400 3/4th are Japanese engineers, not full citizens who are running the plant. I am not just making this up. This is THE issue of the state.

There have been a lot of slow downs due to COVID. I don't doubt that is what is going on TODAY. Look at December 2019 if you want some accuracy.

By the way, even if your 3/4 number is true, they buy houses locally, groceries, TV's, phones, etc..

 

[cosmicfolklore]

One should keep in mind that those "big corporations" are owned by people like me, like your neighbors, your retirement fund, etc. I want them doing what is necessary to make money. As much as I detest these false "social justice" promotions and support, if they improve the bottom line, secure my retirement programs, improve the moneys thrown off by certain shares, improve the value of shares I hold well, I suppose I can tolerate a bit of it.

I agree to a point. When keeping shareholders happy infringes on the welfare of the workers, it starts to tread into evil. Take Shipt employees, the start of the pandemic showed Shipt the highest earnings ever, way higher than they could have ever projected. Then as things returned to normal, instead of taking the natural loss that would have occurred, they started cutting the delivery people's wages, drastically. So, the people who put their lives in dangers during the pandemic to get people their food were all of a sudden seeing half of their paycheck get cut, all to keep shareholders from seeing any loss after a record breaking high.

There are very good reasons for regulations. They level the playing field to keep the game fair. It's a very delicate game of balance that has to happen. We've seen wars in the streets back before regulations. I hope we don't have to live through that again.

 

[Country Bladesmith]

Many of the US Steel companies now are recycling steel and using electric arc furnaces to melt it. Much cleaner process.

I don’t think there is a single blast furnace in operation in the US that is making steel from scratch anymore.