Garandman,
Yup, I agree that's the case, parts and complete assemblies are globally sourced. The issue is, the US has allowed the outsourcing to go much too far. If we haven't already reached the tipping point, I'd be surprised. Our steel industry is decimated, most of our manufacturing base is gone in a very many areas, you have only to look at the shelves in most any hard goods store, most everything made in China.
This transition is not entirely the fault of US companies, part of the blame goes to unions, worker's standard of living expectations, EPA, Fed and state tax laws, and local rules, in short everything that came together to make it much more expensive to do business and make consumable goods here at home, and far less expensive to import. Over the past several years, China has been buying up us companies to obtain even more technology. Some of these companies will operate here providing jobs for now, some not, but corporate profits will, for the most part, still go back to China.
Many years ago, I heard that the US economy would become all about "information" and "service". Unfortunately, that leaves behind a large segment of our society that is ill equipped to find gainful employment in those sectors. Flipping burgers doesn't support a family and without aptitude, intelligence, and educaton, good luck getting a high tech job. Most of the unemployed and minimum wage earners are currently on handouts of one kind or another, and as you know, about 50% of the population gets government subsidies of one type or another and pays no Federal taxes. How long can this continue?
I own a small service sector company of about 20 employees. All the parts we use were once made in the US, now they designed here and made overseas or in Mexico. We have no equipment sourcing alternatives to "buy American" to help change this.
I personally believe that many US companies are acting like the bears in my back yard. They tear off the branches of our young apple trees to get at the ripe fruit now, not considering that the trees they destroy, to get the high fruit now, will not bare fruit in future years (actually I'm protecting the trees now with an electric fence after picking up a lot of torn down limbs). As a country, we are being short sighted in the manner we obtain consumables. With NAFTA and few trade barriers, we are picking low hanging fruit with cheaper prices from China, but we do so at our own peril in the long term. Just as our government cannot exercise the restraint to live within their means, the US consumer (on average), is not doing a whole lot better.
Yeah, I'm worried for my children and grand kids.
bumper
