From AAM Field Coordinator Meghan McKeefry:

This week AAM was out in Michigan.  Coordinator Blue Wilson and myself spent some time in Jackson, MI to start ground work on preparing for a townhall meeting.  We made a stop into Dunkin Donuts to refuel and ended up passing out petitions and “Keep It Made in America” signs and pens while having a discussion about China and unfair trade with the crowded coffee shop.  Among fellow coffee drinkers was Michael Mitchell and Patrick Mitchell, brothers who expressed concern that their grocery store was hurting because a new Dollar store was just opened nearby.  This town is the site of an upcoming town hall meeting in October, and already I sense a great sense of community. 

Stay-tuned to ManufactureThis for updates on our upcoming Town Hall Tour.

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ManufactureThis has posted on the myth that a new trend of onshoring is countering the offshoring that has been going on for years in the United States.  The truth of the matter is, that while onshoring is, indeed, occurring, offshoring is still alive and well and sending thousands of American jobs overseas.

AAM Executive Director Scott Paul published an op-ed in the Huffington Post pointing out that recent data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia shows that onshoring has declined over the past two years.

Rob Neilly reflects in Plastics Today on whether or not the onshoring myth is too good to be true. He correctly asserts:

“One delusion gaining ground among the talking heads and pundits involves our manufacturing sector: that there is an onshoring trend—that is, work is coming back to the USA from low-cost areas. There have been many stories about this in the media over the last few months. The president of the United States has made specific reference to it. But believing there is a meaningful change happening is a delusion.”

Neilly, too, references the “hard data” Paul used to prove that the onshoring trend was phony and calls on America to nix the delusion and recognize the “very real problems we face.”

Read more.

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Portland, Oregon:

It’s about time we revist our friends at United Streetcar, the only U.S. streetcar manufacturer which is based out of Clackamas, Oregon. USA Today featured a story on the Pearl District of Portland which, thanks to grants for streetcar projects from the U.S. Department of Transportation, has been transformed from a “dicey warehouse area” to a “lively neighborhood with boutiques, condos and restaurants.”

Chandra Brown is the president of United Streetcar and her company is benefitting from the Obama administration’s decision to change “transit funding policies to make it easier for cities to get money for streetcars.”

And with the introduction of streetcars back into public transportation, not only are American jobs created to make the domestically produced streetcars, but the ripple effect comes into play with the astounding number of jobs saved and/or created in the surrounding community.  USA Today found Jo Carter, who owns clothing shop Physical Element and claims that there have been more patrons in her store and a “revival” of the entire area.  

The article also reveals the stunning results of a 2008 study by the city which “found that Portland’s streetcar system had generated $3.5 billion in investments and prompted construction of 10,212 housing units within two blocks of the line.”

Read more on the Pearl District’s face lift and United Streetcar.

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Yuma, Arizona: Russell Coil, which  manufactures commercial and industrial refrigeration products, will be closing its doors, resulting in the loss of about 150 jobs.

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In the “Journal Community” section of the Wall Street Journal Online, a quick survey asks the question “Is the yuan key in rebalancing bilateral trade between the U.S. and China?”

Place your vote here!

Manufacturing activity was up in August.  

Manufacturing activity was up in China, as well. 

But, private sector employment was down, according to ADP. 

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Nearly one year ago, President Obama made the decision to impose tariffs on cheap Chinese tire imports in order to help the downtrodden American tire industry compete fairly in the marketplace.  A recently released AAM report shows that Obama’s choice is affecting American tire manufacturers in a positive way, and that trade enforcement works.

The effects are visible across the country, especially in local communities such as Findlay, Ohio.  According to a press release from Sen. Sherrod Brown’s office, “In recent months, Cooper Tire & Rubber has been able to expand its production by as much as 20 percent in Findlay. In addition, China’s exports to the United States have decreased significantly since the safeguard went into effect.”

Sen. Brown recently kicked off a “Made in Ohio” tour.  A main goal of the tour is “Making sure that Ohio industry isn’t undermind due to unfair trade by pursuing remedies to counteract China’s currency manipulation and subsidization of domestic industries.”

Read more.

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On Tuesday, August 31, 2010, President Barack Obama made the announcement that the war in Iraq has come to an end.  Though the majority of his speech focused on honoring the troops and next steps in dealing with the Middle East and radical insurgencies such as Al-Qaeda, the President also turned the spotlight back on American prosperity in and of itself.

Reviving American manufacturing has been on the lips of Democrats for some weeks now, and the President’s speech was no exception. 

He plainly stated, “We have not done what is necessary to shore up the foundation of our own prosperity” and that “For too long, we have put off tough decisions on everything from our manufacturing base to our energy policy to education reform. As a result, too many middle class families find themselves working harder for less, while our nation’s long-term competitiveness is put at risk.”

Later on in the speech, the President dove into a more in depth analysis of the current state of the American economy, proposing next steps to heal the country’s economic wounds:

“Our most urgent task is to restore our economy, and put the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs back to work. To strengthen our middle class, we must give all our children the education they deserve, and all our workers the skills that they need to compete in a global economy. We must jumpstart industries that create jobs, and end our dependence on foreign oil. We must unleash the innovation that allows new products to roll off our assembly lines, and nurture the ideas that spring from our entrepreneurs. This will be difficult. But in the days to come, it must be our central mission as a people, and my central responsibility as President.”

We hope that Obama, as well as Congress, stay true to their word on this one.

Read the full transcript here.

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Nearly one year ago, President Obama invoked a trade law known as “421” for the first and only time in the decade the law has been in effect and imposed tariffs on some automobile tire imports from China, which have been surging into the United States from 2004 to 2008.

The decision was very controversial. Most editorials weighed in against it, the Chinese government threatened retaliation, and some of the more hysterical pundits predicted a death-spiral trade war. The Chinese government, the outsourcing lobby, and the large school of free trade economists all predicted that the relief would not accomplish its goal of reviving production, jobs, and market share for American-made tires in the domestic market.

I’m pleased to report to you that these skeptics were all dreadfully wrong. The sky hasn’t fallen. A trade war never materialized. And, America’s tire workers and domestic facilities are recording gains in jobs, production, and market share.

First, let’s review where the domestic tire industry stood at the end of 2008:

• production declined from 218.4 million tires to 160.3 million tires during 2004-2008;
• capacity utilization declined from 96.3% to 86.0% during 2004-2008;
• U.S. producer commercial U.S. shipments declined from 194.7 million tires to 136.8 million tires during 2004-2008;
• employment data on number of production workers, hours worked, and wages all declined substantially between 2004 and 2008; and,
• consumer tire imports from China increased 215 percent by volume (from 14.57 million tires to 45.98 million tires) and nearly 300 percent by value (from $453 million to $1.788 billion) between 2004 and 2008.

Now, what has happened since the relief took effect? Publicly available data compiled in a report released by the Alliance for American Manufacturing on September 1 concludes that production by U.S. facilities has increased over 15 percent, or by more than 10 million tires, based on Rubber Manufacturing Association data. Domestic producers such as Goodyear and Cooper Tires have experienced productions gains of between 9 and 35 percent.

Employment and overtime at plants producing the tires that compete with Chinese imports is also up. For instance, workers at Michelin plants making the brands BF Goodrich and Uniroyal are working 7 days a week at around 15 percent overtime; these facilities—which directly compete with the Chinese tires subject to the tariffs—have brought on 115 new production workers since the beginning of 2010. The story is the same at Cooper Tire & Rubber in Findlay, Ohio, where 100 new hourly employees have been hired, as well as additional salaried workers. At another Cooper Tire plant in Texarkana, Arkansas, there have been 250 new hourly hires since the relief went into effect. The plant’s operations are running 7 days a week and production is up approximately 20 percent. Goodyear is recording similar employment gains at some of its facilities that compete with the Chinese imports.

At the same time, imports from China, which had been surging in the 2004-2008 period declined 34.2 percent in the first six months after relief was provided and are ranging from 6.4 – 7.6 million tires for the three quarters since relief. Total imports (including China) increased slightly during the first six months of import relief on Chinese products. The International Trade Commission (ITC) had predicted this: both domestic producers and non-Chinese imports were projected to gain volume lost by the Chinese. However, during the first six months after relief was granted, the domestic industry has regained market share of total apparent consumption.

We can draw several lessons from this tire case. First, trade enforcement works. We should do lots more of it. Second, punishing China for its mercantilism is the only approach that achieves results. We will never sweet talk China into playing by the rules. Third, all the editorial writers, pundits, and think tank “experts” who predicted the worst should critically examine each trade case on its merits, rather than merely parroting the “free trade always works” nonsense while engaging in irresponsible hysteria about trade wars and such.

Thank you, Mr. President, for honoring your word on trade enforcement and putting America’s tire workers back on the job.

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As we reported yesterday, the U.S. Department of Commerce rejected arguments that China’s undervalued Yuan acts as an export subsidy. 

In response, Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) Executive Director Scott Paul issued a strong statement expressing AAM’s deep disappointment on Commerce’s failure to act.

It looks like the media have been following the story of China’s currency manipulation very closely of late, and Paul’s statement was widely reported.

Bloomberg News reporter Mark Drajem said that the Commerce Department decision focused on “whether China’s currency policies represent a financial contribution to exporters and provided specific benefit.”  Drajem quoted Paul as saying “It’s now up to Congress to pass legislation” to address “the devastating impact of currency manipulation.”

Reuters correspondent Doug Palmer observed that the Commerce Department decision would likely be ”prompting renewed calls for Congress to act” on the currency issue.   He also cited Paul’s quote on the need for Congress to implement “penalties for subsidies and dumping.”

The Wall Street Journal’s Meena Thiruvengadam and Robert Guy Matthews reported on the Commerce Department’s finding that “the Chinese government unfairly subsidized $514 million of aluminum exports to the U.S. last year.”  They also analyzed the Commerce decision to not ”investigate allegations that China’s currency policies function as export subsidies for Chinese manufacturers of aluminum and coated paper.”  In reaction, they cited Paul’s quote on the need for Congress to “pass legislation to strengthen and modernize our trade laws.”

The discussion on China’s currency manipulation now moves to Capitol Hill where potential legislative measures are brewing.

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