Harbor Freight Steps Up

If they went to China due to labor costs, why do we have all the foreign car makers with plants here and building more?
They pay quite well.

You think the U.S. corporations sent our jobs (outsourcing) to China (and Mexico) for another reason (and this started before China's joint venture requirements to sell vehicles over there began in 1980 - when the U.S. wan't all that interested in selling vehicles over there)? Tell me more..................... You need to get out of Missouri more..........

The Japanese and Europeans have plants over here to help encourage consumers to buy their products since they are made in America and consumers have less of a reason not to buy - and to stave off the potential for increased tariffs on them. And labor costs in Japan and Europe aren't all that low either compared to here. Also the wages paid here by the foreign companies have to be competitive with labor costs paid by U.S. companies to avoid being forced into accepting union bargaining (that would add to their expenses).

The Germans also have plenty of plants in China and the Japanese have some too because if they want to sell to what is now the worlds largest car market (China), they have to have 50-50 joint ventures with Chinese companies so the Chinese can steal all of the larger foreign company knowledge and secrets and become a much more formidable competitor in the future very quickly. And it won't be long before China will be selling competive vehicles over here at lower prices and wreaking havoc on our traditional car companies. So all of this "follow the money" mentality will soon come back to bite us in the *** big time. But by then, the fat cats will be mostly dead and they won't care if our corporations phase out because they won't be able to compete.

The Chinese government is extremely shrewd and they are winning on the world front in many ways because of it while the U.S. continues to lose ground big time as a beacon for the world.

I'm glad I wasn't born any later than I was.
 
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As Steve pointed out, the shift of industry shifted to China over the past 30 years due to labor costs but also because of some the overbearing regulations. Unfortunately, a lot or most of the drug companies also shifted their production to China. That has got to STOP.

Years ago our government gave huge tax breaks to build factories in Puerto Rico. Eli Lilly for example... What happened? Why aren't we doing that anymore? Puerto Rico was booming and all of a sudden they all pulled out. I think they need to go back there. Why are we getting our fruits such as oranges, lemons, pineapple etc. from South America instead of PR? Coffee? Lots of stuff. PR is part of the U.S. We did it before why not now?
 
Guys they’re only doing this to get out in front of due & coming criticism. Protect their fruitful business. No other reason. They don’t give a rats *** about us. They intend to milk the hell out of this PR event so they can continue to milk us for more manufacturing. Mask & safety gear are coming from other places as well & several companies are about to begin high volume production. It’s like yea I burned your house down & you caught me. I’m so sorry (I got caught)Let me help you rebuild until the professional contractors are hired & can take over then I’ll go back to lighting matches.
 
Just to be clear. It’s not about our Asian-American friends living amongst us. It’s about the Chinese government. I did this today while I was out & about.

A friend of mine is an Asian. His English is good. Not great. Business owner. I stopped by today to see if he was still open. He was. Said he’s been very busy. That was good to hear. Said the family was fine. His name is Mr Chang. Great guy. Will go out of his way to help anyone. I know from personal experience. One of my dealership managers also is Asian. I’ve worked for him for 14-15 years. We’ve butted heads a few times over the prices I charge LOL but he has stayed with me all these years. I’ll do my best to head over to his store soon. I doubt he will have any work but just to check on him. Let’s take care of our Asian Americans folks. They are hard working family oriented folks. And they are in this with us.
 
As Steve pointed out, the shift of industry shifted to China over the past 30 years due to labor costs but also because of some the overbearing regulations. Unfortunately, a lot or most of the drug companies also shifted their production to China. That has got to STOP.

And look at the Political Party that was in charge during most of that time!!!! The Jackass's!
 
You can bet that after this crisis is over our government is going to mandate critical manufacturing brought back to the USA.
 
And look at the Political Party that was in charge during most of that time!!!! The Jackass's!
This isn't necessarily either party's fault any more than the other. The US had been granting China "most favored nation" trading status since 1980 under Jimmy Carter. This meant trading with them on equivalent to WTO member terms all that time. US companies did not invest heavily in China because there was a chance the government would revoke that MFN status. Reagan and Bush Sr. had the opportunity to do so over 12 years of GOP leadership but did not.

The US started the process to grant China full admission to the WTO in 2000, during Clinton's second term, but China became a full WTO member in December, 2001, during G.W.Bush's first term. Bush could have vetoed their WTO admission, but that would have been hypocritical since the US had been granting them equivalent status for over 20 years. However, now that it was irrevocable, that's when US companies started moving a lot of production to China.
 
This isn't necessarily either party's fault any more than the other. The US had been granting China "most favored nation" trading status since 1980 under Jimmy Carter. This meant trading with them on equivalent to WTO member terms all that time. US companies did not invest heavily in China because there was a chance the government would revoke that MFN status. Reagan and Bush Sr. had the opportunity to do so over 12 years of GOP leadership but did not.

The US started the process to grant China full admission to the WTO in 2000, during Clinton's second term, but China became a full WTO member in December, 2001, during G.W.Bush's first term. Bush could have vetoed their WTO admission, but that would have been hypocritical since the US had been granting them equivalent status for over 20 years. However, now that it was irrevocable, that's when US companies started moving a lot of production to China.
They call that free markets.
 
I'm not sure what you're getting at, since China wasn't a free market. A foreign company had to locate production there to sell goods there, and had to partner with a domestic Chinese company as a joint venture.
The US. We operate as a free market & trade with darn near anyone. I’m a fair market guy. Free markets have hurt us in many ways from the flooding of import models (Toyota Previa van sold here in the US at a loss to gain a stake in that market). I could go on with you for days on this but I’m not. Remember the Chinese “Jeep” it was called that Iacocca tried to get imported to the US under free market laws. The Chinese actually doused that one but have since learned. Chrysler spent money on production capibilities on that fiasco. But let’s not just talk China. Free markets have hurt our industries across the globe. Now we are a globalist/free market country. Our politicians are bought. Wall Street is bought, CEO’s on the take, NBA with there wonderfull Free market deals. I don’t think there’s no stopping it. Years ago I invested into Asian markets through T Roe Price International Discover. All was good until the Asian Flu it was called. Not a real flu but American money pouring into these Asian companies buy the cargo ship load <—yes pun intended & greed blundered it as well as corruption. Lost my a$$ on paper. Took years to recover & man did I. Gee I wonder how that happened. Sold all fund shares & ran straight to a US bank. After all that shook out I got a tip. Why buy International as most of the Fortune 500 are international companies head quarterd in the US. Safer to buy them & get the international exposure that way. That’s been my logic since but as we continue to go global the shift has become that these companies are now international companies (Anhauser Busch, Edelbrock just to name a couple ) that sell in the US & are operated largely from international buyouts or mergers. Can you say FCA ? So that’s what I mean in a nut shell & that’s why I don’t think it’s going to stop.
 
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I'm not sure what you're getting at, since China wasn't a free market. A foreign company had to locate production there to sell goods there, and had to partner with a domestic Chinese company as a joint venture.
I'm not sure what you're getting at, since China wasn't a free market. A foreign company had to locate production there to sell goods there, and had to partner with a domestic Chinese company as a joint venture.
By the way “free markets” do not mean the markets are free both ways. Neither are fair markets fair both ways but tend to be more fair. It’s really up to the politics.
 
By the way “free markets” do not mean the markets are free both ways. Neither are fair markets fair both ways but tend to be more fair. It’s really up to the politics.
I think you meant "free trade", not "free market". If you'd said that I would have known exactly what you're talking about.
 
I think you meant "free trade", not "free market". If you'd said that I would have known exactly what you're talking about.
No I meant free market. They have free & open access to our markets. And take full advantage of it not taking recent tariffs into account. This is the point I’m trying to make in my regard for fair market
 
Here is an article that I found interesting. China does not follow any environmental laws and does not force corporations to do so either. Main reason everything is produced over there.
13 striking photos that show how polluted China's water has become
China is a perfect example of what I talk about with over-population of man on Earth, that country has gone off the deep end and will never environmentally recover. They all need to succumb to this nasty disease that they have infected the Earth with!
 
China is a perfect example of what I talk about with over-population of man on Earth, that country has gone off the deep end and will never environmentally recover. They all need to succumb to this nasty disease that they have infected the Earth with!
Sometimes I like you, sometimes I dont. Today I like you.
 
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