The Anxiety over “Made in America”

America’s Forbes magazine website recently published an article titled “The End of Chinese Manufacturing and Rebirth of U.S. Industry,” which claims that America will recover its superior position because of its advanced technology manufacturing industry. The article also insinuatingly mocks China for facing a manufacturing industry bubble, pointing the finger of blame at the “made in China” industry.

This year, there have been many articles like the one published by Forbes, to the point that individual American representatives have started making a big deal out of nothing, shouting that they want to pile together all products with a “made in China” tag and incinerate them. The government wantonly publicizing the “made in America” industry, not to mention the media following suit in the hype, exactly embodies the communal worry, or even the confusion and lack of confidence, of America toward “made in America.”

Clearly, the American economy has been ignoring its main problems for a long time, stressing banking and not industry, thereby causing an imbalance. The Obama administration has stressed many times that it wants to revitalize the manufacturing industry, promoting the developmental goal of an “increase in production and exports, reduction of the scale of banking and an increase in the number of jobs.”* Among these, one can already see the government’s anxiety over the depression of the current “made in America” industry.

For the past two years, the employment section of the American manufacturing industry has ebbed. In addition to reasons like the increased cost of foreign manpower, there are also temporary and chance elements like currency fluctuation and rising prices of transporting energy from abroad. America wants to reverse the economic imbalance and needs to make the best choice in the field of manufacturing. Relying on superior industry — the advanced technology industry — to revitalize the entire manufacturing industry has already become the common consensus among many insightful people.

When all is said and done, the biggest problem the American manufacturing industry is facing is a problem of talent. In the end, this is the true focus of America’s anxiety. The relocation of the American manufacturing industry is not merely due to cheaply priced foreign manpower. Apple executives all recognize that the flexibility, diligence and technical skills of foreign workers all far surpass that of their American counterparts.

However, the anxiety over the talent issue has been drowned out by shouts of “the American manufacturing industry has again returned.” A survey in October 2011 by Deloitte Consulting Services showed that in 2011 the American manufacturing industry had 600,000 vacant positions, with the reason being that companies could not find workers with suitable technical skills.

Blindly promoting yourself and belittling others does not necessarily mean you can truly achieve self-improvement. The “made in America” industry really does have many advantages, but it also faces many obstacles. If you turn a blind eye to too many clear challenges, no matter what a few politicians blindly show off or the media hypes and heckles, the anxiety and fear over “made in America” will continue for quite some time.

*Editor’s note: the original quotation, accurately translated, could not be verified.