Why do American companies continue to outsource to China? It seems like there is not a part that is manufactured under OEM in China that they do not take, and rip off the engineering to make, sometimes in the same shops, to be sold on the open market. It is laughable to expect the US State Department to attempt any type of sanctions to stop Chinese piracy. I wouldn't expect this to change should Trump be elected.

So, why do our companies continue to send their US engineered products to China to be manufactured? The simple answer is economics. US companies can have them made there, and ship them back here, and still sell them cheaper than if they were US made. Let's not get into the economics of taxation and regulation costs in the US, though that is a large part of it. My views on economics are very capitalistic, and lassaize faire, with respect to government intervention. Piracy of intellectual property is just wrong.

My question is why do US companies continue to allow their products to be made offshore? Why don't they search for friendlier countries if the must outsource? I also understand that China has the manufacturing infrastructure developed, but this was not always the case.

 

A few words to answer your questions...cost and profit. Companies are there to make a profit and when the employees want more money, the company does what it can to keep cost down and profits up.

I thought everyone knew this decades ago.

 

because no US company makes a $300 bike lift. I figured I would use the lift 2-3 times a year. Cheapest full table lift made in the US started around $950. So I bought Harbor Freight. Same thing with my trailer that I use 2 times a year

 

Because people purchase the cheaper item.

 

Dummies like me keep buying the chinese garbage.
In recent times I have begun to actively search out non chinese alternatives, but sometimes my temper will still get the best of me when my computer can give me in depth side by side comparisons, and the chinese part costs less than a third. It's literally no excuse on my part...... but it happens, just the same.

 

I think it is messed up that the very same people that are complaining about no jobs here due to outsourcing or counterfeiting are the same ones buying those outsourced or counterfeited products.

Buy American then more stuff will start being made American.

What is not helping the situation is granting China permanent most favored nation trading status, which is something that Colin Powell advocated for.

Why the hell do we need to help out the Chinese economy when their economy is doing just fine and ours sucks.

Sorry, my company just had another round of massive layoffs a few days ago. I survived the layoffs again, but a lot of good people did not.

 

I'm not pooping money. Using the previous example, if I need a bike lift, well hell I have two kids to feed so $300 sounds a lot better than $950.


Now that I'm a bit older and can afford better stuff, I'll seek out a US made product when I can.

 

Let me guess! You thought this was a brand new topic to this forum? You thought you were being earth-breaking and innovative? Instead you're just rehashing the same crap that's been beaten to death over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again here on this forum.

 

I am not talking about a $300 HF bike lift vs. a Handy Lift. I am talking about outright piracy where a companies intellectual property (drawings, specifications, and processes) is stolen to produce a duplicate item which is then sold for a lower price.

And ChickinonaChain the reason they can sell it lower is because they do not have to pay for R&D (that's research and development in your speak), nor do they have to pay for tooling costs. That's the cost & profit part that you missed.

I feel for US workers whose jobs are displaced and shipped overseas. You can't fault the US companies for that. Contrary to what some believe, they are not out just for themselves. They realize that having a fully employed workforce in the US means that there are more opportunities for them to sell their goods to. I believe that most of them would also prefer to manufacture in the US for the additional security and stability which we offer.

 

Some are made by "Ghost Shifts" at the name brands factories and some of the counterfeits are nearly indistinguishable from the "name" brands so much so that the companies buy them up and water down their own inventories and and mark them up for retail sale for even less than it costs them to make.Here or there.One big corprate boardroom billionaire(major stockholders) profit party...So who's getting shafted? The US workers and consumers.