This site is dedicated to the AMERICAN WORKER who produces quality products right here
in
the USA. It is our goal
to let YOU, the public, know where all of our JOBS have gone!
If you want to know where all our JOBS have gone,
It's as easy as checking your shirt tag, pants tag, underwear tag, hat tag, shoe tags, furniture
labels,
food labels, and almost any label or tag for the products they we Americans
buy and use every day,
and that are now in the large majority of our homes and businesses in this country!
These products were at one time ALL made here in the USA!
This tag is from a 40 year old sweat shirt that is still in good condition. Notice the quality stiching, and double stiched edges.
North Carolina, which is the state I live and work in, has a history
that is rich in
textile
manufacturing
dating back to the early 1800's.
Over 871 textile and apparel mills have closed down since 1996!
Between 1977 and 1997, nearly 82,000 jobs were eliminated in the NC textile industry ALONE!
This downward trend has accelerated greatly since then, with over 150,000 textile jobs lost from 1996 to 2006!
Over 48,027 apparel jobs were also lost in the same time period! Not surprisingly,
North Carolina recorded a high unemployment rate at 6.5% in 2003, ranking 41st
in the nation. The state's annual unemployment rate has consistently been higher
than the national average since 2001. In January 2006, 15 North Carolina
counties had unemployment rates more than 2% above the national average of 4.8%,
all of them rural. Hyde County had the highest unemployment rate
in January 2006, at 8.9%. Just imagine how much worse it has gotten since 2006!
These are the ten states losing the most jobs to China:
10. Georgia
Net job change: -87,700
Jobs lost: 101,200
Jobs gained: 13,500
Georgia has lost a significant number of jobs, primarily in industries “including computers and electronic parts, textiles and apparel, and furniture,” according to the EPI. One of the hardest hit districts in the country was the state’s 9th congressional district, which is located in the northern part of the state and includes the city of Gainesville. Georgia has historically been known for its textile industry and remains one of the top cotton-producing states in the country.
9. Massachusetts
Net job change: -88,600
Jobs lost: 99,300
Jobs gained: 10,700
Two of the nation’s 20 hardest-hit congressional districts are located in Massachusetts. The first of these is the 5th congressional district, which includes the cities of Lowell, one of the country’s earliest textile centers, and Lawrence, home of a number of textile and electronics manufacturers. The state’s neighboring 3rd congressional district also lost an exceptional number of jobs. This district includes Worcester, another historically significant textile city, which has since increased its technology industry.
8. Ohio
Net job change: -103,500
Jobs lost: 124,100
Jobs gained: 13,500
Ohio is one of the U.S.’s biggest manufacturing states. It is home to major companies such as Procter & Gamble and AK Steel Corporation. However, the state’s manufacturing sector is declining at a faster rate than the nation’s. The automobile sector has had the highest unemployment growth since 2007, although companies in other sectors have contributed to sending jobs overseas as well.
7. Pennsylvania
Net job change: -106,900
Jobs lost: 127,200
Jobs gained: 20,200
According to the National Association of Manufacturers, “Manufacturers in Pennsylvania account for 12.5 percent of the total output in the state” and employ “10 percent of the workforce.” Politicians have been outspoken about China’s effect on the state’s economy. Senator Bob Casey recently stated that “Unfair Chinese trade practices harm Pennsylvania businesses … and reduce their ability to create jobs.”
6. North Carolina
Net job change: -107,800
Jobs lost: 122,400
Jobs gained: 14,600
North Carolina is home to three of the top 20 hardest hit districts in the U.S. Textiles and furniture are among the two industries that have lost the most jobs to China, according to the EPI report. North Carolina Congressman Howard Coble is co-sponsoring House Bill 639, the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act, to address this issue. “This bill will at least force China to compete on a level playing field with U.S. manufacturers,” Coble is quoted as saying in the Winston-Salem Journal.
5. Florida
Net job change: -114,400
Jobs lost: 134,500
Jobs gained: 20,100
Florida is not normally considered to be a major manufacturing state, yet it does excel in some areas, such as medical device manufacturing. The state has lost almost 115,000 jobs to China from 2001 to 2010. Governor Rick Scott has been a supporter of business relations with China, but other local politicians have not been as hospitable. In 2007, Mayor John Mazziotti of Palm Bay proposed a ban on items made in China, stating that the city was “losing jobs left and right to them.”
4. Illinois
Net job change: -118,200
Jobs lost: 139,400
Jobs gained: 21,200
Illinois is another traditional manufacturing power that has lost a significant number of jobs to China. Robert Scott, director of manufacturing and trade policy research for EPI, told Illinois WJBC radio station that “In Illinois you also have a large number of firms involved in industries like auto parts production and fabricated metal products, and those are industries that were hurt by the growth of imports from China.” China also exports lots of electronics and specialty steel -- industries that were once major sectors in Illinois.
3. New York
Net job change: -161,400
Jobs lost: 183,300
Jobs gained: 21,900
“New York has lost 140,000 predominantly middle-wage manufacturing jobs in recent years as a result of China’s unfair labor practices,” said James Parrott, deputy director and chief economist at the New York-based Fiscal Policy Institute in the Times Union. New York Senator Chuck Schumer has made efforts to encourage China to further appreciate its currency.
2. Texas
Net job change: -232,800
Jobs lost: 269,300
Jobs gained: 36,400
Texas has suffered greatly from the trade deficit with China due, largely, to the prominence of the computer and electronic parts industry in the state. Four of the top 20 congressional districts that lost the most jobs in the country are located in the state. Many Chinese companies have close ties with Texas. Two companies, Huawei and ZTE, have set up their U.S. headquarters in the state. Oil company CNOOC has also bought an exceptionally large amount of mineral rights in the state in order to extract shale oil.
1. California
Net job change: -454,600
Jobs lost: 519,000
Jobs gained: 64,300
California has lost almost half a million jobs to China, according to EPI. Like Texas, many of these were lost in the computer and electronic parts industry. Additionally, eight of the nation’s 20 hardest hit districts are in the state. Governor Jerry Brown has proposed ways to win back jobs from China outside of the computer sector, such as green technology. In his race for governorship, Brown said that he would create thousands of clean-energy jobs, “reclaiming from China leadership of the cleantech economy.”
The following article by Peter Navarro appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on July 18, 2010. Navarro is a business professor at UC Irvine and co-author with R. Glenn Hubbard of “Seeds of Destruction: Why the Path to Economic Ruin Runs Through Washington, and How to Reclaim American Prosperity” (FT Press, forthcoming in September).
Smart guys like New York Times flatlander Thomas Friedman and Princeton economist Alan Blinder have been saying this dumb thing for years – manufacturing doesn’t really matter. Nonsense, says former Intel Chairman Andy Grove, who brilliantly argues that without a solid manufacturing base, there can be no innovation – or the tens of millions of new jobs we now need to forge a prosperous future.
That said, while Grove makes the case for revitalizing American manufacturing, his proposed solution – an export tariff to finance investments in U.S. manufacturing – fails abysmally to explain how we are going to get our manufacturing base back from foreign shores or why so many American executives have been so eager to offshore so much of their production.
Nor does Grove fully explain that America doesn’t really have an offshoring problem so much as a “Chinese import dependence” problem. Indeed, today China accounts for fully 45 percent of the U.S. trade deficit and, astonishingly, more than 75 percent when oil imports are excluded. Of course, much of that trade is in goods that used to be manufactured in the United States.
It’s no secret why China has been hollowing the American manufacturing base ever since it joined the World Trade Organization in 2001 – we’ve lost a third of our manufacturing jobs since then. The reason is China’s utter disregard for free trade principles coupled with a “no holds barred” industrial policy strategy expressly designed to woo (or force) American factories, technologies and even R&D facilities onto Chinese soil.
China’s free trade charade starts with its Great Walls of Protectionism. Behind those walls, China forces any American corporation that wants to enter its huge emerging market – including Grove’s beloved Intel – not only to surrender much of its technology but to also offshore a significant share of its research and development. No wonder Silicon Valley is becoming a ghost town.
At the same time, that protectionism makes it exceedingly difficult for American companies to penetrate Chinese markets, unless they move their facilities to China. And so our corporations go East.
As a matter of American policy, we need to tell China in no uncertain terms that we will not tolerate such forced technology transfers – all clear violations of WTO rules. Nor should we allow China to have its way with our markets if we can’t really enter theirs.
Besides institutionalized protectionism, China also has adopted a set of mercantilist trade practices – from high illegal export subsidies and rampant theft of American technology to a grossly undervalued currency – that likewise have pummeled our manufacturing base and driven U.S. corporations offshore. These practices make it cheaper for American corporations to produce in China and sell abroad than to manufacture on home soil.
What we need is for President Obama to fulfill the promises he made as a candidate in Rust Belt states like Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania to crack down on practices such as currency manipulation and illegal export subsidies. More broadly, we must pursue tough trade reforms together with the same kind of “job-centric” industrial policy promoted by Andy Grove. I strongly suggest passing a simple piece of omnibus legislation that says America will not trade with any country that systematically engages in mercantilist and protectionist practices that result in chronic trade imbalances. It need not even mention China – but its leaders will surely get the message.
We also need tax reform.
Consider the double taxation of American multinational corporations – an important conduit for selling exports to the rest of the world: They pay both foreign taxes and U.S. taxes. This puts American exporters at a competitive disadvantage while providing a strong incentive for multinational corporations to move their headquarters abroad. That’s ludicrous.
The United States has the highest corporate tax rate of any major country, save for a stagnant Japan. This high rate discourages domestic investment in everything from new plants and equipment to the development of new technologies – and thereby further fuels offshoring.
Given the depth of our economic crisis – and the Chinese rival we are up against – it is clear that America needs a more comprehensive approach than Grove’s simplistic tariff. Let’s get on with it before Silicon Valley sinks into the sea – and the American heartland loses its manufacturing soul.
http://economyincrisis.org/content/lack-jobs-due-our-massive-trade-deficit
Lack of Jobs Due to Our Massive Trade Deficit
The U.S. is still millions of jobs behind where it was when the Great Recession started, and now has less people employed than in 2001. The economy has been unable to create jobs due to America's massive trade deficit caused by failed economic policy.
Since 1975, the U.S. has imported more goods than it has exported. In 2010 alone, the U.S. had a deficit of $478 billion in global trade. A large portion of this was oil imports, but consumer goods are another area in which the U.S. imports virtually everything.
Trade policy that encourages businesses to relocate production of goods to other nations without penalizing them for selling those goods back to this nation has resulted in millions of lost jobs. White House estimates show that for every $1 billion in goods exported, the economy creates 5,000 jobs. Unfortunately, that street goes both ways — data from the Economic Policy Institute shows that for every $1 billion in goods imported, the economy loses 9,000 jobs.
Making it possible for American businesses to sell products to the American people would open up a market long denied to them. This would help create American jobs and help protect our national security (the decline of American manufacturing has forced the military to increasingly rely on foreign suppliers).
“Free” trade has not been “free” at all, but has cost America millions of jobs. More than three decades of its implementation and colossal failures such as NAFTA have proven that in practice it does not work. America needs to work to implement revised trade policy that will reduce our trade deficits and create jobs
MORE INFO TO COME SOON!!!