Reshoring

Rising Chinese wages and a surge in U.S. competitiveness are forcing many American manufacturers to ratchet back their foreign operations, according to a study by The Boston Consulting Group. The shift means that more companies see the value in Made in America, a philosophy always embraced.

Why They’re Coming Back
According to that same study, the China exodus could create 2 to 3 million U.S. jobs by 2020. They predict nearly half of those jobs to be factory positions. Here are some facts:

• When compared to manufacturing in the U.S., many companies are actually losing money in China because of lower worker productivity, higher logistical cost, and indirect risks of operating in a foreign country, like product quality failure.
• Productivity growth in the U.S. is at an all-time high, with American workers churning out consistently higher quality products. Yet the country still offers one of the lowest manufacturing cost structures in the industrialized world.
• Key industries expected to shift operations back to the U.S. include: transportation goods, appliances, electrical equipment, furniture, plastic and rubber, machinery, fabricated metal, and more.
• Even foreign companies are adding more operations in the U.S. to accommodate domestic and export markets.

And then there’s also the consumer side of things. According to a Harris poll, three in five Americans are more likely to purchase a product they know is manufactured in the U.S.