Tractor Shortages

[Paystar]

Is anything actually fully made in USA anymore?

Know what's really sad? If you look under the Cat M series loaders I run there are all kinds of parts stamped "China". ALL the hydraulic fittings for instance. And the build tag "Made in Brazil with foreign and domestic parts."
And the brand new 330GC excavator "made in Japan"

Remember when Caterpillar used to be a proud American company?

 

[finn1]

You guys watch too much Faux

 

[jmc]

You guys watch too much Faux

While I think that the propaganda/industrial complex has become toxic for our country, I'm not seeing it on this thread yet. I do see a healthy skepticism about current industrial "wisdom" here.

We have international consulting outfits that come up with these concepts, anywhere from inventory management, human resource issues, and shady corporate tax strategies. They peddle these to corporations everywhere for big bucks. Managements who buy their advice get bonuses if they work and can blame the consultants if they blow up.

Seems like a basic component of "just in time" inventory management should be the cost of the components. You don't want a month's worth of engines on the books at $2000 each but chips might be different. Once you pay for the tooling, a month's worth of chips may only cost a few dollars each. But lacking a $2 chip is as bad as a lacking a $2000 engine at the end of an assembly line. "Too many chips" seem like cheap insurance. Do consultants parse that?

 

[Jchonline]

THIS! ! ! It absolutely amazes me how we got to this point. So few factories left in this country. It astounds me that the Virus came from China, and the vast percentage of PPE has Chinese writing on it. Why the hey didn’t the US step up and say, we will not support China in the is virus response. We needed to step up and handle it. We have lost our self-sufficiency as a nation and could not exist if our borders were cut off by a foreign power.
It is a shame, this once GREAT Nation is now so dependent on Other nations for our goods. I totally understand businesses going to China to have products made for cents on the dollar, but we are Killing our nations future.
OK. . . I’m off my soapbox, but I really do not see the future any brighter when the world is so small now.

Jez where are you in Eustace? My parents place is just West of town on 175. They grew up there, moved to the city, then retired in the same house 20 years ago.

To answer the question….we have no one to blame but ourselves. Most of us wont buy USA made due to the costs. Businesses in a capitalist market compete on margin, not quality of product (at least not any longer). Somehow we have gotten ok with disposing of things we purchase 2 years later…creating more trash……
So if you can get it from China for 1/5th the cost…..we continue to buy it.

 

[Midniteoyl]

You guys watch too much Faux

What do you mean? I dont watch that MSNBC or CNN faux news stuff at all.. Or Fox news either, for that matter.

 

[Paystar]

All we need to know is this is way too complicated to fix now that the world has become so overly complex.
We all know how to fix one problem, but then it would just have a chain reaction.

The other big problem causers in this world is the fear mongering media. Instead of censoring us on forums and you tube they should be censoring all the brain washing the media keeps feeding people daily.

 

[Paystar]

We don't need to worry about any of this. According to the media we are all going to die from climate change with covid by next year anyway.

 

[Hay Dude]

You guys watch too much Faux

I’ll just convince myself all the closed rust belt industrial companies in my area, tore up rail road tracks, schools no longer offering vocational educations and all the stuff in my house stamped “made in China” is just an illusion….

 

[Hay Dude]

Jez where are you in Eustace? My parents place is just West of town on 175. They grew up there, moved to the city, then retired in the same house 20 years ago.

To answer the question….we have no one to blame but ourselves. Most of us wont buy USA made due to the costs. Businesses in a capitalist market compete on margin, not quality of product (at least not any longer). Somehow we have gotten ok with disposing of things we purchase 2 years later…creating more trash……
So if you can get it from China for 1/5th the cost…..we continue to buy it.

I agree we must blame ourselves with a slight twist. I believe we must blame our leaders, not the average citizen. When I say leaders, it’s not just government either.

As long as the value is there, I would pay slightly more for US made. I would like to see a return to some form of independence from complete dependency on China.
It’s funny how when that is suggested, you get labeled an “isolationist”. It’s not isolationism, it’s self preservation. Lighten up.
Theres nothing isolationist about having the ability to produce some of everything you need.

Lookit the Covid crisis. No PPE. We had to ask companies here to make PPE and ventilators.
What’s wrong with being able to make a decent amount of these critical products here? PPE, microchips, electronics, medications? How about some critical minerals and metals? Whats so bad about that?