Open Post #4 China vs. U.S. Manufacturing

After interviewing one of the plant managers for Stephen Gould Corporation, Don Wallunas, I looked into other common misconceptions of packaging managers and manufacturers. An article from The Washington Post caught my attention; the article was confuting the mythical belief that U.S. Manufacturing can in no way compete with China.

Over the past decade, Chinese Manufacturing has exceeded America's and taken the lead in global manufacturing. The United States, along with China, Brazil, Russia, and India - also known as BRIC, are the world's top manufacturers in today's day. However, people fail to realize how close the U.S. output is to that of China's. The United States's output has grown enormously over the past decade and now far surpasses traditional powerhouses such as Japan and Germany. From 2002 to 2014, the manufactured goods annualy exported in this country grew from $600 billion to $1400 billion (nam.org. Para 3). While China has a 22% world-share of manufacturing activity, the U.S. follows in second place with 17.4%. China is the "best" simply because they have experienced "extremely fast growth in physical volume of manufacturing activity with the modest inflation"(Meckstroth. Para 1).

China may be in first place, but first the worst, second the best, right? The United States seems to be a step behind China, but we are making just as many manufacturing gains, if not more. As of 2012, "China has more than four times the population of the United States, and though its manufacturing intensity of $1,856 per capita value-added this year is high for a developing economy, it is well behind advanced countries such as the United States ($6,280)"(Meckstroth. Para 1.) Looking at per capita value, the United States is manufacturing almost triple the value China is. 

After reading this article, I researched about China's costs of production. My findings revealed that China's reputation of having the lowest manufacturing-cost, is actually false. Throw away the old playbook and get this - according to researchers from Bloomberg Business, the countries with the lowest manufacturing-costs are Indonesia, then Mexico, Thailand, and India. China comes next, quickly followed by it's happy competitor, us! We may not be the cheapest manufacturing country in the world, but China isn't either. America is easily running alongside China in this race to be top manufacturing country; "As Chinese labor costs rise, American productivity improves, and U.S. energy expenses fall, the difference in manufacturing costs between China and the U.S. has narrowed to such degree that it's almost negligible" (Sinkin. Para 5). 

Sources Cited 
Meckstroth, Dan. "MAPI." China Has a Dominant Share of World Manufacturing. 6 Jan. 2014. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.

Nam.org. "United States Manufacturing Facts." National Association of Manufacturers. Feb 2015. Web. 20 Feb. 2016

Sirkin, Harold L."China vs. the U.S.: It's Just as Cheap to Make Goods in the USA." Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, 25 Apr. 2014. Web. 21 Feb. 2016.