Over dinner this week a friend asked what I thought of making products in the US and plans to bring jobs back. It was a tough question because I’m not a huge fan of politics so I decided to answer her question by talking about an industry I know. “I’m not sure,” I said, “I’d be able to afford a laptop or television made in the USA.”
We became a country of innovators and creators and started having technology products manufactured abroad because other places are simply cheaper. Companies like Apple design products here and contract them with other countries because they already have the manufacturing technologies.
Modern manufacturing includes a combination of robotics and human laborers to manufacture and assemble products. No matter the country, products like circuit boards are assembled on automated manufacturing lines with little human interaction. Final assembly and other secondary manufacturing operations are typically done by humans.
We, as consumers, wouldn’t be able to afford products strictly manufactured in the US. We are only able to afford these products because they’re manufactured offshore by people making a fraction of our incomes. From tool design to final assembly, no matter how many robots are used humans still need to be present.
At this point I’m not sure if I’d want my next laptop to be manufactured stateside. I remember fifteen years ago when I had a Chinese manufactured laptop sitting next to an American machine. Both functioned similarly, but the American product was much bulkier. I work in an industry that’s trying to make things smaller and lighter.
Years ago I saved money to buy my first TV. It was a US made 19″ Zenith with rotary channel selector knobs that cost almost $400.00. Today a 32″ flat screen with better picture and resolution costs around $100.00. Technological innovation combined with streamlined manufacturing and production techniques makes for a very favorable product.
Why shift from current manufacturing? In 2011 Thailand flooded causing a shortage of hard drives. Almost overnight, companies in China started manufacturing hard drives that were loud or failed out of the box. Six years later and Chinese manufactured hard drives aren’t that much better.
Tariffs on foreign made products will only cause the value of the dollar to rise against foreign currency. Eventually the value of the dollar will be so high that the differential gives enough reason for manufacturers to stick with their current manufacturing and pay the tariffs. A television made in China could still end up costing less if the dollar has enough buying power.
America’s economy is doing quite fine considering we’re manufacturing less than we’ve done in past years. Innovation is the key to US economic growth and without countries like China producing our technology none of us would be able to afford a new laptop. One thing’s for sure, if tariffs spike on technologies manufactured outside the US, my little repair business will flourish.
(Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. located at 509 Main St. in Gardner. You can read past articles at www.LocalComputerWiz.com.)