Survey Shows Government Policies Create Disadvantage for US Manufacturing Sector
I’ve heard some business leaders say that they think Americans no longer have faith in domestic manufacturing.
However, I’m pleased to say that new survey results suggest that exactly the opposite is true.
The second annual Public Viewpoint on Manufacturing survey, released last week by Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute, indicates that 78 percent of Americans actually have a strong view of the significance of manufacturing and see it as very important to the country’s economic prosperity. Likewise, 76 percent of those polled said that manufacturing is very important to the standard of living in the United States.
The new research also suggests that the American public believes that the American worker is ready and able to participate in a healthy manufacturing sector. When asked to select from a list of 21 attributes that make American manufacturing globally competitive, respondents identified the top three as: work ethic, skilled workforce and productivity — and all of those were listed well ahead of non-workforce related attributes, such as infrastructure and natural resources.
Interestingly, three-fourths of survey respondents believe that the United States needs a more strategic approach to developing its manufacturing base. In addition, about the same percentage believe the country should invest more in the manufacturing industry, and 68 percent would like to see a strong manufacturing base developed as a national priority.
So, why aren’t American workers going into manufacturing?
According to Craig Giffi, vice chairman and Deloitte’s consumer and industrial products industry leader in the United States, that answer can also be found in the survey results. More than half (55 percent) of those polled think the long term outlook for American manufacturing is weaker than today, and only 30 percent of respondents would encourage their children to pursue a manufacturing career. He says the survey shows that this trepidation is tied directly to concerns over government policies. Respondents consistently identified government-related factors as the biggest obstacles to the success of manufacturing in the United States –specifically policies relating to business, tax rates on individuals, and both state and federal leadership in this area.
For more information and to download the survey findings go to: www.deloitte.com/us/mfgimageindex.
Hopefully people are beginning to understand jobs that will last in manufacturing will not be created by new investments in our country, knowing that the Federal Government is not seriously addressing, the “economic pass” that has been given to foreign ships polluting our waters with ballast discharges and carbon emmissions as they bring their foreign manufactured products into our country. With this administration not addressing the issues of one Senator Boxer who objected to historic legislation passed by the House (395-7) in 2008, and then delaying action on ballast water with another study to coincide with a 20 year military plan ,it shows those who manufacture goods that a policy of economic globalization is still being pursued over economic Americanization, and will continue to stiffle the cost of manufacturing in our country. This is especially evident by a report created in 2009 for congress that describes the cost of national ballast water legislation mandating installation of technology. The report suggest the cost would be incurred by, mainly foreign ships, bring foreign imports into our country and this would cause the cost of imports to rise. Currently our military is offering incentives to foreign ships, importing foreign goods, to install technology to protect our waters. If they leveled the playing field with legislation that protected our water, and our commander and chief directed the military to worry about enforcement, rather than offering incentives to ease the problems that cost would create for foreign shipping bringing foreign manufactured goods into our country, manufacturing may again decide to investment in America.
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