……..Of course getting Manufacturing to be 20%+ of GDP versus today’s 11% will significantly increase the amount of American made goods purchased by Americans, but it will also increase the amount of American made goods exported to the world.
[Reposted from the blog of Dan DiMicco | Dan DiMicco | April 3, 2015]
Why? As discussed more fully in the book, if we commit ourselves, as a Country, to rebuilding our global competitiveness through policies that foster “BALANCED TRADE”, rational and cost effective regulation overhaul, a globally competitive tax system, sound energy policies, and a rebuilt infrastructure, we will see Manufacturing and our Middle Class blossom here at home.
Balanced Trade means paying as much, if not more attention to imports driven by Trade “Cheaters” as we do on increasing our export opportunities, and actually increasing efforts on both. It does little good to focus on exports into countries that stoop to Trade Cheating to gain an export advantage. Why? Simple, if they Cheat on their exports they will, and do, also Cheat when it comes to keeping our exports out of their home markets. This has happened with every so called “Free Trade” we ever negotiated, as they put in place non-tariff trade barriers to replace their tariffs and we do little if anything to stop them. The proof is an accumulated negative trade balance in goods of over $10 TRILLION in the last 15- 20 years.
Trade barriers like VAT (Value Add Tax) systems that get rebated to their companies when they export and added to our products when we “TRY” to import to them, which significantly decreases their costs to export and increases our costs to import. Our companies get no such rebate of our income taxes to foster exports!!!!! Trade barriers like currency manipulation, which includes currency devaluation and then pegging the devalued currency to the dollar so they don’t ever lose this “subsidized” advantage (40-50% for China) and also includes regulatory barriers on our products. In extreme cases like Steel, the Chinese Government owns their companies and prevents foreign steel companies to build operations in China or own controlling interest. in fact for over a decade the limits on foreign ownership were 10% or less. Now that is PROTECTIONISM!!!! Then they insist on being allowed to export their massive excess capacity to the world at what ends up being ILLEGALLY DUMPED prices.
Runaway regulations like we have today only drive up our cost to produce and their regulatory environment is non existent. Environmental regulations in particular. US Steel companies like Nucor produce a ton of steel with 1/10 to 1/4 the emissions, in particular CO2, than steel producers in China. Yet as our costs are driven up the tons of steel produced here are increasingly being produced there and pollution/ton is 4-10 x greater. How does that make environmental sense????
I could go on and on for the other issues mentioned in the second paragraph, but I won’t. Read the book and remember all my book profits will be donated to various Veterans groups that I and Nucor have supported over many years.
Read the book and become a Champion for a healthier economic future for our Country, our Middle Class, and future generations. A healthy America is a better America for us and the World.
