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Globalization made it possible for countries to trade goods with fewer barriers by relaxing trade controls and providing subsidies. At face value, it’s beneficial to consumers because they are given more choices at lower price points. We see the tremendous benefits of this especially to people who live in metropolitan cities, which are very far from production centers. The choices brought about by long-distance systems are unparalleled, but such benefit comes with a price in the form of environmental harm.

The link between trade and environment is not obvious, but if you include processing and transport of goods to the equation, the connection becomes apparent. People are increasingly becoming dependent on goods and food items from distant sources. This massive traffic of goods and food items requires an enormous amount of fuel, which contribute immensely to greenhouse gas emissions.

Goods that come from foreign countries could take up as much as four times the energy compared to those sourced domestically. More energy means more carbon dioxide emitted by human activities, which in turn causes air pollution and contributes to climate change. Pollution affects the air, water, and soil of the affected areas, which causes environmental and health issues.

The over-reliance on the system poses a real threat to the environment and the negative effects are irreversible. However, our immediate and future actions can help save the environment profoundly. One of the best ways to address the issue is to buy American. This means sourcing ingredients from local farmers or buying goods from American manufacturers. Shortening the travel time of food from farm to plate makes for much more efficient use of fuel and other resources. It’s the same way with non-food items.

Buying local significantly lowers the transportation cost and it eliminates the need for middlemen, which unnecessarily jack up the costs. With fewer processes in the system, there is less fuel usage and less carbon emission. Sure, it can be argued that long distance goods trade is efficient, but the perceived efficiency brings far greater cost not only to the environment but also to the loss of good paying American manufacturing jobs. Buying American is not just some trendy hipster movement but a real sustainable solution to lowering carbon footprint, thereby saving the environment in the process.

In the mid to late 19^th century during the gold rush era towns would pop up out of nowhere.  Construction began, saloons opened, brothels were common, there was a need for doctors, dentists and merchants.  When there was “gold in them thar hills” communities thrived – until the gold ran out.  The local communities became “Ghost Towns” and most never recovered.

Fast forward to the 20^th Century.  Early in this century once again towns grew and flourished not based on discovering gold, but rather by growing industry and technology.  Implementing manufacturing facilities that would employ 100, 1000 and even more to produce those very products Americans created.  And for many years life was good.  But the world did not stand still and globalization became a reality.

As a result, economists began encouraging outsourcing those American products we created to other countries.  Small towns who had manufacturing plants that had been producing products for years were moved overseas and jobs became scarce.  We all are familiar with what happened in Detroit with the automobile industry.  But what about the small towns?

For instance, in 2004 Maytag shut down a refrigerator factory for decades was Galesburg’ largest employer moving the work to Mexico.  Ten years later residents are still struggling and the city’s population is declining.  Median household income fell over 25 per cent over thirteen years.

This is just one example of how the NAFTA trade agreement signed into law by President Bill Clinton negatively impacted our own citizens.  Even though one of the basic principles of economics is that trade is good and more trade is better, creating fair trade deals between countries should be an integral part of that principal.  The struggles of one small town illustrates whether that principal is currently in the best interest of the American people.  Hopefully, new trade agreements will help level the playing field.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics in the U.S. Department of Labor recently released a pleasant set of employment details, stating “Both the unemployment rate, at 4.3 percent, and the number of unemployed persons, at 7.0 million, changed little in July.” To help you visualize how many people are employed in America, consider that Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor (the largest stadium in the United States) holds roughly 107,600 people, while our nation is home to 326,474,013 (Census Bureau, 2017). After factoring in that 4.3 percent unemployment rate, that means our nation’s employed persons could fill that stadium upwards of 3000 times!

With so many Americans employed and a seemingly balanced economy, you may be surprised to learn that the clear majority of these workers, including many of you, have been economically disadvantaged by corrupt politicians and their agendas! In order to put America first, we need to take care of our workers, which is why we are seeking to educate you on many of the ways their policies are currently impacting you!

Minimum Wage:

Our politicians have been involved in a myriad of controversies in recent months, which have detracted from their ability to successfully negotiate a rise in our minimum wage. This has left millions of Americans working jobs where the meager wages they do make are unable to support their most basic needs. Worse yet, those in office have sought to support “right to work” laws, which will ultimately weaken unions (the people who fight most for our wage increases!). Additionally, previous Executive Orders that protected federally contracted employees from losing wages such as the “Fair Pay and Safe Workplace” order, have been retracted. As a result, the American worker is actually worse off regarding support of a fair minimum wage than they were in the past.

American Jobs:

The current administration has promised an increase in jobs here in the United States but many of their policies seem to be implemented simply for aesthetics. Take, for example, the application of the “Buy America, Hire America” executive order. If one were to read it thoroughly, they would quickly find it to be more focused on reviewing current employment practices as opposed to implementing new ones. While this may set us up for a better understanding of how vast our task to improve the American labor market is, it does not help the current situation. This is especially true when one considers the fact that some research firms estimate that 41 of the top 100 federal contract recipients engage in hiring people from other countries. Obviously a very unsupportive move by our government.

The issues mentioned above are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to detailing the pre-emptive strikes our very own government is waging against the working class. We need to arm ourselves with knowledge about each of these policies so we can more adequately fight back against these attacks. Go forth fellow Americans and fight for the right of fruitful employment.

It’s no secret that many foreign factories resort to unlawful and unethical practices in order to cut down on operating costs. And what better way to do this than to use cheap child labor? This form of cost-cutting measure translates into savings being passed on to prospective clients. This makes foreign factories more competitive in the world market. In a cutthroat business environment, even the slightest competitive advantage is desirable.

Prospective clients, US-based or otherwise, are either unware that such a thing exists or they just completely turn a blind eye to such unscrupulous practice. In any case, the hard truth is that children below the age of 18 are forced to do full-time work in factories without pay or with minimal wage. The worst part is that these children work long hours in less than human conditions. This is a form of abuse and it deprives children of their rights and harms their physical and mental development.

It is a known fact that child labor is prevalent in developing countries and least developed countries in Africa and Asia. It is estimated that over 160 million children are engaged in child labor worldwide. Of that number, more than 20 million children are employed in factories that manufacture garments, toys, and other consumer products. The number continues to climb as poverty index soars. Poverty and lack of employment opportunities force families to allow little kids to work in high-risk environments without safety measures put in place.

What’s alarming is that the trend is catching on even in economically important emerging countries like Brazil, Russia, India, and China. The economies in these countries are improving and growing at an unprecedented rate, which means there is more pressure to produce beyond their capacities. To meet demands without increasing costs substantially, foreign factories are making adjustments by using substandard raw materials and hiring cheap child labor.

Foreign factories are notoriously employing children as young as six years old just to meet demands. In China alone, it’s estimated that there are over 12 million children from the age of 10 to 14 who are employed as child laborers. This is clearly a violation of international human rights laws in general and child labor laws in particular.

Child labor in China is a huge problem for its trading partners, including the US, because no consumer would want to use products tainted with child labor and human rights violation. What’s even more sickening is that foreign factories are getting away with it simply because child labor laws are poorly implemented, if enforced at all.

Child labor is a multi-pronged problem that leads to child trafficking and exploitation. Eradicating it will be a slow and gruelling process especially if the violations are being tolerated by trading partners and consumers. The key is to understand the risks that such an abhorrent practice poses to children. As consumers, the responsible thing to do is know the supply chain process of companies to ensure that we are not supporting those companies that directly or indirectly violate child labor laws.

Ask the average person on the street about the state of the manufacturing industry and you will be sure to hear a lot of people talking about how countries are fleeing the United States in droves. These same folks will also tell you that the reason they are doing so is to take advantage of ridiculously cheap labor in other parts of the world. It seems like a logical line of thinking, especially since we hear this particular reason being thrown around on a very regular basis. What may come as a surprise to many people is that the “cheaper overseas” argument is in fact a myth.

Yes, companies are moving overseas, but if they are not doing it to take advantage of employees who work for mere pennies on the dollar, then why are they going? There are a few reasons why companies make the move, and none of them have to do with cheap wages and tax breaks. Let’s not forget that there are also large corporations opening manufacturing plants and headquarters in the US, which does not make any sense if the only reason that companies move is because they want to save a buck or two on their payroll costs.

The most obvious reason that a company decides to move to another part of the world is so that they can break into a new market. If business is consistently good at home, but not so great overseas, one excellent way to make a positive change in a new market is to create job opportunities there. It’s an excellent way to build a brand, and is something that automakers frequently do. Places like India and China are huge markets that remain relatively untapped for a lot of automakers, so opening a production plant in those places can help them break into the marketplace. It works in reverse, too, as Korean company Kia opened a huge manufacturing plant in Georgia a few years back, as they tried to build their brand in the states.

Another reason to move is to have access to materials that are cheaper elsewhere than they are here. Many of the companies that make the move overseas make equipment on an assembly line that is now almost totally automated. The parts and components used to create things like computers and other electronics are cheaper abroad than they are here, as that is where they are usually produced. With automated assembly, the argument for cheap labor goes out the window.

Innovation is also key in the movement of companies to new overseas locations. The simple fact of the matter is that the brains behind new technologies may actually be located elsewhere, with the Japanese in particular leading the way in that department. Companies that operate in certain industries will go to the heart of the innovation as opposed to trying to lure the brains behind it here. We are not suggesting that finances do not play a role in a company moving to a new location, but the reality is that lower wages are way down the totem pole when looking at the reasons to make that move.

Within the past few decades, U.S. companies have been moving jobs overseas. Large corporations that employed several thousands of Americans have gradually packed up and relocated offshore.

Of course, this trend started long before Wal-Mart became a retail superpower. However, there is no doubt that the retail chain has grossly contributed in destroying American manufacturing thereby accelerating the loss of American jobs to countries such as China, India and other low-wage nations.

Wal-Mart has spent a fortune in recent years on conferences, advertising, and PR promotions in an effort to convince Americans that it cares about the nation. On the periphery, the company’s U.S. manufacturing initiatives appear patriotic enough, but here are some of the ways Wall-Mart has been involved in crippling American manufacturing.

First of all, Wal-Mart commands control for just one major reason – its purpose which is to bring goods at the lowest possible prices to its customers. The company, therefore, has a clear policy for suppliers – to supply at the lowest possible rate. In order to survive the retailers pricing demands, they lay off workers, close U.S. plants and resort to outsourcing products offshore.

Secondly, Wal-Mart is America’s largest importer. The retailer has held the position as the U.S. largest importer of goods for several years. Many of the company’s selected U.S. suppliers have continued to import most of their goods such as bicycles and televisions. As for products labeled ‘American-made’ or ‘American-assembled’, these suppliers import a majority of the product’s components.

Another factor is that the company thrives on low wages. For any of the retailer’s U.S. manufacturing deal to click, extremely low labor is required. American manufacturers have been put in harm’s way because Wal-Mart’s uncompromising demand for lowest rates has driven these suppliers to hunt for lower prices overseas.

Furthermore, Wal-Mart has destroyed U.S. manufacturing by giving non-American companies direct access to the U.S. market. Wal-Mart is big and centralized; therefore it has the capacity to link oversea suppliers into its digital system. With the company’s global reach, it’s easy to switch to offshore sourcing faster than the traditional norms of retailing.

Americans love ‘Made in America’ and Wal-Mart knows Americans will pay more for it. The retailer is designed to sell more goods at higher profit margins. Americans are willing to pay higher rates to keep their compatriots employed, a recent survey has shown. The retail giant knowing that consumers would prefer goods made in the U.S. has always made sure its product packaging particularly communicates that the products support American jobs, whereas the reverse is the case.

It seems Wal-Mart is set to apply different tactics in order maintain its dominance in the retail sector and this will continue to affect American manufacturers negatively. The consequence is that quality middle-class jobs will continue to depreciate.

In order to really rebuild manufacturing in the U.S., Americans need actual manufacturing not just having products assembled in the country. Until American factories resume work, things may get worse. There is a need to get large corporations not to develop too much appetite for money, to think home and become more patriotic.

Since the early 1980’s American economists and corporate Gurus believed that the United States could survive and be successful by only doing research and innovation and let foreign nations produce our products.

But what these policymakers are realizing is that if we do not also have a hand in manufacturing those things we create we become dependent on those countries for the very goods we invent.  We no longer are producers, only creators.  Which is why this country went from a $30 billion trade surplus in high-tech products almost two decades ago to over a $46 billion trade deficit today.

It is believed this wholesale transfer to offshore production has done three things: weakened our own job-creation engine, hindered our ability to rebound from a recession, and eroded middle-class prosperity as there are fewer jobs available.

Corporations thinking of manufacturing offshore need to consider a few things.  Labor costs is just one side of the equation.  There are other considerations.

• The cost of moving and setting up facilities on foreign soil
• Quality control – it estimated only 10% of products manufactured abroad pass
• Tariffs – New tariffs are being considered to make importing less attractive
• Losing Customers – There is a mood in this country that we need to regain control over our exports and begin manufacturing again in our own country

Initially US manufacturers thought they had found the panacea to staying competitive but in the end, it is just becoming a quick fix that is helping to destroy the American economy.

Counterfeiting is a process whereby products are made or distributed under some other company’s name and without permission by that company. Counterfeit goods involve a wide range of industries which may include: clothing, medication, car parts, and electronics.

Some other products vulnerable to counterfeiting are jewelry, handbags, wallets, computers, shoes, and personal care products. Counterfeiting happens to be a global problem and has been around for years. Unfortunately, use of modern day technology has worsened the already bad situation.

Nevertheless, all hope is not lost as there are a few steps that U.S companies can take to protect themselves from losing much more money to overseas counterfeiting.

First, you have to Register Your Trademarks. Trademarks registration is a very important step in protecting your brands. Federal registration will allow you to enforce your trademarks rights anywhere in the United States. Also make sure you register your trademarks in all the countries in which you do business. Foreign registration provides you additional rights and will go a long way preventing the exportation of counterfeit goods that have your trademarks.

The next important step is to use technology in protecting your goods from being counterfeited. Technology can be expertly applied within the product itself. For instance, in apparels, you may add a seemingly invisible thread that creates a brand-specific pattern that is visible only under certain lighting.

The next major step, which has often times been overlooked, is to register your trademarks with customs agencies in the United States and other countries in which you do business. The U.S. Department of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) provide an Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Enforcement program that would help stop the flow of counterfeit goods into the United States.

Educating your consumers is another important step to take. In order to prevent your consumers from buying counterfeit goods, you will need to make available to them the information necessary to make enlightened purchases. Send them information through your company websites and also partner with other relevant websites to help identify places that sell counterfeit goods and to provide a list of authorized dealers. Inform your consumers how to identify and report counterfeit goods to you or other partners.

Counterfeit goods can cost any company both money and reputation. Taking a few simple steps to protect your brand and also your consumers is worth every effort that will be required to do so. While it might be practically impossible to completely eradicate counterfeiting globally, however, with adequate precautionary measures such as the steps outlined above, U.S. companies can empower themselves to prevent overseas counterfeiting from going overboard.

The recent scandals about poisoned baby milk, contaminated pet food, dangerous toys and other substandard products from China have raised questions about manufacturing standards in China.

Let’s assume for a minute that you are asking why Chinese firms turn out poor quality products on their own. There are a number of factories in China that will turn out anything you ask them to produce, defaulting to minimum cost and minimum quality unless otherwise specified.

In just three decades, China has been transformed from one of the world’s poorest nations to the world’s second largest economy. It was probably inevitable that as production grew so would the problems associated with it, at least in the short term. Similarly, it could be argued that China is going through the same quality cycle that occurred during Japan’s post-war development or America’s manufacturing boom in the late 19th century—but in an environment with infinitely more scrutiny.

Chinese manufacturers will do whatever they need to in order to catch a piece of business, but from there, the relationship often goes downhill, albeit in small steps. “Quality fade”, the quiet and incremental degradation of a product’s quality over time, is one of the more common issues.

Much of the problem is cultural. Chinese suppliers believe that what an importer doesn’t know can’t hurt him. They change product specifications without asking, and they believe that it is better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission. Quality is seen as a barrier to greater profitability and quality issues are not openly discussed.

Chinese domestic market consumers generally go for either the best product or the cheapest product.  So if you are not making the best, you are racing to the bottom to make the cheapest.  Chinese consumers are not generally looking at quality; it is assumed that if you want quality, then you buy the best one; otherwise just buy the cheap one.  So, manufacturers are not rewarded for making incrementally better products.

Factories in China will do anything to please. Prices are famously low and production cycles short. Chinese factories transform what were, in fact, profitless contracts into lucrative relationships. The production cycle is the opposite of the theoretical model of continuous improvement. The innovation inside China factories turns to cutting costs, often in ways that range from unsavory to dangerous. Packaging is cheapened, chemical formulations altered, sanitary standards curtailed, and on and on, in a series of continual product debasements.

With lax enforcement of a lot of product safety requirements, many Chinese domestic suppliers become accustomed to cutting corners where possible.  Many manufacturing companies in China do not abide by strict labor laws. Many products are made under humane working conditions and do not meet today’s stringent safety standards. Low pay and child labor are factored into getting products made. This cumulates in producing products of high quality.

Modern Chinese factories outsourcing work to smaller, grittier, facilities even though this meant forgoing the production benefits from economies of scale. The tiny outfits were in a much better position to skirt environmental controls and safety standards for products and workers.

Check the labels on your clothes or the description of any product you buy and you will more often than not see that it was made somewhere other than the US. This is not really big news to anyone who has been paying attention, but what is so alarming here is that many people have now simply accepted that this is the way things are, not to mention how they will stay. What these folks often fail to realize is that the overseas manufacture of products sold in the US had a negative impact on the economy, which includes how much the average person will earn here at home.

Let’s start things out by talking about why so many products are now made overseas instead of locally. The simple answer is that it is all down to money, as manufacturers know that they can make the same product for a whole lot less overseas than they can at home. This is because the people who work in these countries do so for mere pennies per hour. Why would a company pay someone $7.25 per hour when they can get the same work done for less than a buck an hour?

Back in the days when manufacturing was big business in the US, it was the middle class who thrived, as there was plenty of work to go around and a living wage to be earned. With those jobs slowly but surely disappearing, the middle class is starting to shrink, with more and more people now forced to take minimum wage jobs just to get by. The problem here is that the minimum wage simply isn’t rising to match the cost of living, which is forcing people to work 2 or 3 jobs in order to make ends meet, and only barely at that.

There are companies in the US who are devoted to making sure that all of the products that they deliver are made right here at home. This is a truly noble cause that is beginning to gain some traction, but the majority of these companies are small in size. They have a small but dedicated workforce doing a fantastic job, but because of their size and the need to sell products at a price competitive with those made overseas, they cannot afford to pay a great wage to the people that work for them. This is how things will remain until people become a little more patriotic in their shopping habits.

The vast majority of the companies that have moved operations overseas to save a buck are not coming back without a real incentive, which is why we all need to support those who decide to stay in the US and employ their own people. While it may mean having to pay a little extra to get items made in the United States, it’s a worthwhile contribution to the growth of the economy. If we can work together to make the US a manufacturing superpower once again, then perhaps we can help more people earn a wage that require them to only have one job instead of 2 or 3.