Shifts in American Manufacturing

Since the recession, the United States has slowly but surely been making a comeback to the manufacturing sector. Over the past year or two, China has been increasing their labor wages, causing many US companies to return their manufacturing to the states. Together with the increasing wages and the rising costs of shipping and transportation, sourcing in China has now become a burden for many US companies. Intellectual property has also become a source of concern when sending new products to be manufactured overseas who do not comply with the same type of intellectual ownership laws. Places like China are using other countries intellectual property to recreate the product elsewhere and sell it as their own. This has definitely become a huge burden for some American companies. In addition, over recent years the US has increased productivity in creating businesses and trying to maintain a steady economy. Not to mention the value of the US dollar has slowly diminished, which is also a burden to many US companies who invest overseas. Together, the US is beginning to see a shift in where their manufacturing dollars are going. Companies are beginning to rethink their supply chain management and how they can leverage local resources to bring their business back to the states.

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