  Buyamerican Member Username: Buyamerican Post Number: 819 Registered: 02-2007 |
"excuses, excuses Buyamerican. I guess I shouldn't expect a man of your singular vision to only wear clothing made in the united states, eat food grown by local farmers, refuse to shop at Wal-Mart etc., and watch a 60-year-old tube television made in the USA. Otherwise you wouldn't be such an obvious hypocrite. you can keep your bumpersticker slogans. I'll keep my toyota." Call me whatever you want. Just me buying an American automobile certainly won't make a difference today, but my mind and conscious will be clear when all of you are crying the blues that foreigners are at your front door giving you no choices at all. I will have done my part, small as it is. Oh, and you can put your toyota where the sun don't shine! | ||
Royce Member Username: Royce Post Number: 2829 Registered: 07-2004 |
" Our country can not and will not survive on service industry jobs alone." - Eastsidedame. Iowa Senator Tom Harkin said something similar to this over 20 years ago. I thought it was such a profound statement back then that clearly it has stayed with me and speaks to what is happening here in the U.S. today. The bottom line is this: Michigan IS manufacturing. Other than farming, what else would Michigan's economy do if the auto industry never developed here? Become a tourists mecca? No way, it's cold here nine months out of the year. Remember, manufacturing has been Michigan's bread and butter, even before the car. It was ship building, wagon building, stove building, and bicycle building that turned Michigan's economy before the car. Having all of these businesses in Michigan was the impetus for the development of the auto industry. These industries eventually fell by the way side because of the success of auto manufacturing. Now, is there anything we can build today that can replace the car? Sure there is - a different kind of car, a cleaner car. An electric, natural gas, or fuel cell car would be ideal, but unfortunately the Big Three have been slow to develop these technologies. Leave it up to the Japanese to respond to the public's needs. Had the Big Three jumped on electric and fuel cell technologies well before the rise in gas prises this past summer, they could be in the driver's seat of car manufacturing, creating new jobs for Michigan residents (mainly through the creation of new fuel stations and support services). Now, without manufacturing in Michigan, Michigan IS finished. The only thing left would be to go back to an agrarian society. What else is there? | ||
Lilpup Member Username: Lilpup Post Number: 5465 Registered: 06-2004 |
Other than staying with smaller cars, what have the Japanese done aside from hybrids? no more than the Big 3. The domestics tried going to E85 and had those vehicle to market before the Prius, but almost right away an oilman landed in the White House and the drive to get off oil came to a screeching halt (much like Reagan taking Carter's solar panels off the White House). The Big 3 E85 opportunity got pissed away. Now, with higher oil prices, further developed E85 distillation technology, and the other party soon to be in Washington there's a much better chance of Detroit being recognized for the work done instead of sneered at and berated. What else is in Michigan? There's quite a bit of chemical work, healthcare, and alternative energy development. The filmmaking ventures will help a little and can be developed and there is some tourism. What do other states have to keep them going? | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 5443 Registered: 02-2005 |
http://www-personal.umich.edu/ ~alandear/writings/CompAdv3.pd f ^^Free Trade 101 from a favorite professor. If you don't like reading through calculus, skip to the end for the conclusions. There are winners and losers in every economy, and this does not change (it probably becomes more pronounced) in an increasingly integrated, barrier-free economy. Michigan has clearly been a loser because our former comparative advantages don't really exist so much in an open world economy. But the onus on Michigan is to clean its own house, and change its own ways, rather than blame the world and its newfangled ways. Doing the latter is quite ineffectual when there are more places and people doing better off now than before the modern economy was ushered in. I'm all for thriving local economies, and there is great charm in localism. I support it (especially because of the positive environmental effects and because it can be nice to know that your market activity helps your neighborhood), but it is not the solution to all of our problem. It's unrealistic to produce everything you need/want in one place when you could get the same or better item from elsewhere, and compensate that by producing a certain group of items of high quality/low price in your own area and selling them to others. In the olden days that meant making steel in Pennsylvania and making cars in Detroit. Today it means buying electronics from Asia and selling the rest of the world our skills and knowledge. The information economy is a real economy. It exists, and is stronger and more valuable than other economies, even though some of you old-timers would rather make tangible items. An information economy complements a larger economy, because decisions on whether to buy / what to buy (whether we are talking about stocks, goods, real estate, loans) is based on information. People pay to get good information and make a more profitable choice on their purchase. And, ever present with any succesful economy is a services market, and the types of services that good be rendered are boundless (obviously, many of those services is the creation/acquisition/sale of information I just mentioned). America has quite succesfully transitioned to this, and hasn't done better only because we are short on well-educated people. Our schools have fallen behind. It's not necessarily a matter of handing out more B.A.s, it's a matter of raising the basic level of K-12 education, and also, enabling entrepreneurship. Michigan doesn't have to be finished. It just needs to fashion itself after the winners in the new economy (let's not pretend that we are rooted with the auto companies at this point as it is-- we have to stop pretending we are and look at the diversity we have in this economy and look to build on that, rather than act defeated). Much of it follows from building great cities that people of all types will want to live in, because that fleshes out a complete, diverse economy that can be rooted in information and services. Look at the succesful areas: they have thriving cities that are the hubs of this information economy. (Message edited by mackinaw on October 22, 2008) | ||
Lilpup Member Username: Lilpup Post Number: 5466 Registered: 06-2004 |
"Today it means ... selling the rest of the world our skills and knowledge." Have you ever considered the inherent arrogance in that theory? What makes you think that the rest of the world is incapable of providing those services for themselves? | ||
Eastsidedame Member Username: Eastsidedame Post Number: 594 Registered: 12-2006 |
JFTR: Proud owner of 3 Buicks & a Chevy, all made in the 21st Century. They've all been trouble-free and dependable. But that's only one product. I bought a bedspread today. You guessed it: Made in China. No American bedspreads at Linens & Things. I hate that I'm giving my hard-earned $ to a country that hates us, but that's what I'll have to do until WE GET OUR MFG. BACK. Lilpup: The rest of the world does indeed take what it wants from the US. How many foreign companies now own pieces of us? From Budweiser to Burger King? Congress allowed too much foreign ownership of American companies, and foreign nations who lobbied for that legislation. Americans didn't want that...foreign countries wanted that law, and they got it! Ah, ha! Arrogant or not, it is a fact...and the emperor has no clothes, too. Have you been to a college campus lately? How many foreign students do you think are there, compared to any European univ. (except Oxford, Cambridge and the Sorbonne)? More Americans go to college here than go to school anywhere else in the world. Why? You know why. What they said may sound ignorant, but it actually happens. Americans seem to love to "give away the store", to their detriment. | ||
Lilpup Member Username: Lilpup Post Number: 5467 Registered: 06-2004 |
The top three employment destinations for U-Mich students after graduation: 1) USA 2) China 3) India Of course they can supply their own services without hiring US help - we teach them how and then they don't need us anymore! (Message edited by lilpup on October 23, 2008) | ||
Sean_of_detroit Member Username: Sean_of_detroit Post Number: 2039 Registered: 03-2008 |
The service thing makes sense... Buying American doesn't have to mean buying everything American, does it? With one project I'm helping with, they are going to be buying raw materials from Africa by an Asian "company". Then, they are going to be assembled in Central America, and be bought by us, in the USA. We then are going to customize these items, and add "designer art" and other expensive features. They then will be sold internationally. We will have customers in the USA, but the number of customers outside the USA is much bigger (when combined). The USA is NOT the majority. That means, we're making money for the USA, based on services alone. What's even better, is that our sales to one of our supply countries, will end up buying more then they are selling to us (they supply many other companies elsewhere). Now, why can't they just start doing the services themselves? They don't have the resources to do it. Even if they went out and bought all the resources and tools, we still would be cheaper, because we already bought and paid for those things long ago. Likewise, the USA can't do the job that they are doing with the efficiency and price they do it for. Now, to only buy American isn't smart. It would mean abandoning the much more efficient world economy, to do everything ourselves. They'd grow bigger and more powerful than us in a second. Those that are banded together will simply have more resources, and more success. If we cut ourselves off from the world, we'll end up like China once was... left behind, inefficient, with many other problems as a result. It's frightening to us. As the original leaders and innovators of capitalism, we don't have the luxury of always knowing where our place is, or where we're headed. Everyone advocating buying only American, is stating valid possible scenarios. But, those are extremes on the possibility scale. That means they can be avoided Things are tough right now, because it's a time of transition. If we act selfish and oppressive to anyone, many countries are going to treat us like we are selfish and oppressive. The worst case scenario is that everyone hates us, a sign we are on the wrong path. Kwame Kilpatrick really proved that you're not really a leader if no one is following you, while you hurt your cause. If we try to help those who are struggling, I think the most realistic worst case scenario is that we aren't going to be a leader like we once were. However, we might end up being one of many countries in a sibling rivalry type of competition. You know, maybe that's alright. | ||
Lilpup Member Username: Lilpup Post Number: 5468 Registered: 06-2004 |
Fine, great, can you fully employ the entire 2,000-3,000 to be laid off with the next plant closing? | ||
Cheddar_bob Member Username: Cheddar_bob Post Number: 2094 Registered: 10-2003 |
American-made bedspreads? Here you go... http://batesmillbedspreads.com /american-made-terry-wovens/ | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 5444 Registered: 02-2005 |
Lilpup, you read too much into what I said. And you shouldn't have. I was making a case for highly integrated markets, where goods and services of all different types are going back and forth. I certainly did not mean to say that the US is supposed to provide only knowledge, and to be the only information source for the rest of the world. Within the information sector, even, there is specialization. Even disregarding that, there are certain types of information that we just can't provide. If I want to read audit reports on a German company that only deals in Germany, France, and Slovakia, there probably isn't an American company that provides that. I'm probably going to have to purchase from a German accounting firm. The information economy goes back and forth in every direction imaginable; I certainly did not mean that the US is in a position to monopolize it (and you could have guessed that by reading my qualified statements about our education system). Don't get fired up by overgeneralizing in a topic where generalizations are the last thing we need. Speaking of arrogance (this isn't an attack against Lilpup), I think the whole 'Buy American' thing, besides being infeasible, is arrogant. Do Americans deserve to make a living and be happy more than people in Mexico? Iraq? Singapore? Should we shut all the doors that have been opened by globalization that have made the third world better off, so that we here in the rust belt can be marginally better off? Are we that bitter that our unemployment numbers are 8 percent as opposed to 6 percent? Is our standard of living THAT bad? Back to education, briefly. I think that it is the solution to most of the problems in rust belt SE Michigan, in addition to creating better cities/metro areas. So many people are left behind, or never get ahead, because they are never in a position to be engaged in the prosperous sectors of the service/information economy. It is only partially a matter of access to universities and community colleges. And those things should even be not be the focus, in terms of reforms. The problem is inequality and unequal access to good K-12 education, in addition to a general cultural problem. Urban school districts lack resources, but, just as much, they lack the culture that embraces the new economy. They need to focus on making kids in Detroit, Flint, Kzoo, etc want to aspire, and be able to reasonably aspire, to participate in the new economy. Making dropping-out an unacceptable avenue, and raising standards for all areas of study across the board, is a must. When you look at the prominent state schools, even Wayne State which is right in the heart of Detroit, you see student bodies dominated by people that didn't come from urban school districts. Our largest cities have the most kids, and they should be the most well-represented. The goal of every school district needs to be college prep, and overcoming the culture (seen most readily in inner cities and rural areas) that doesn't embrace the need for higher ed. Accomplishing this is a sure-fire way to ensure a large and diverse middle/upper class which we largely lack in metro detroit (which is polarized by coterminous race and socioeconomic lines), but which the advanced and succesful metro possess (look at how diverse the wealthy areas, including suburbs, have become in some NE corridor states). | ||
Lilpup Member Username: Lilpup Post Number: 5473 Registered: 06-2004 |
"I think that it is the solution to most of the problems in rust belt SE Michigan" I think the solution is JOBS, because even college educations aren't ensuring employment prospects around here. Do you really think all the white collar and technical people being let go are high school flunkies? (Message edited by lilpup on October 23, 2008) | ||
Janesback Member Username: Janesback Post Number: 484 Registered: 08-2006 |
Seems its going from bad to worse.....just how "worse' can it get? One thing helping Texas is oil and the work to rebuild after Hurricane Ike......lots of construction jobs, roofing, etc.....Cost of living is still considered managable.....So sorry for Michigans problems.. They just had one gas station post gasoline for 1.98 a gallon. Can you imagine..Cheap gas and no one can afford it because they have more important bills to pay.i.e, home mortgage...Its dificult to buy a car as well, no one can get approved much less afford the payments..... Jane | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 5445 Registered: 02-2005 |
Jobs are pretty damn key, no doubt, or else your educating all those people and enabling them to go to other cities. As for getting jobs to come here, let's first determine what's keeping them away at the present moment. Metro Detroit/Michigan stacks up pretty well in terms of business tax burden, very well in terms of cost of living, and office rents/real estate is cheap. We have a business environment that looks inviting on paper, but we have to address the problems that cause people to look at this area are an undesirable place to be. At least half the problem is perception, and that can be corrected by channeling resources and general focus toward improving Detroit and enabling regional cooperation. Short of creating a new CCC and WPA, I don't know how we can create the jobs without government handouts. If the government is going to spend money, it should go towards changing our fundamental though, meaning improving urban schools, and infrastructure [transit systems, not just roads]. Creating well-targeted incentives such as what we've done with the film industry is always a good way to get jobs. I don't know what else you can do. What are your ideas, Lilpup? I can tell you that simply buying American won't solve the problem--even if every American bought a "Detroit made" car today. (It would even help because all the profits would be diverted to the union pension funds anyway). | ||
Hamtragedy Member Username: Hamtragedy Post Number: 322 Registered: 10-2007 |
My sister's new Subaru was made by locals in Indiana. Unfortunately, the LEMON SATURN she had and the horrible customer service she received showed that Saturn is definitely not a Different Kind of Car Company. It's just the General, doing business as usual, and they don't give a rat's ass if your car stalls for no apparent reason on the interstate five times in 11 months with kids in the car anywhere from 15 to 150 miles from home. And apparently doing business as usual means not doing anything viable customer service wise to put her in a new lease, new vehicle, nothing. And she wanted to Buy American, like a good Detroit girl should. There's a Made In Indiana sticker on the window. Futhermore, Assembled in USA is on the door. My Ford truck says Assembled In Canada. If Detroit was serious, we would be buying viable alternative fuel vehicles like hot-cakes. But they are not viable, even affordable, for those who need them most. | ||
Eastsidedame Member Username: Eastsidedame Post Number: 598 Registered: 12-2006 |
Cheddar_bob: No Wal-Mart or JC Penney? Weren't those stores started by Americans? Just don't seem right! Chenille's not my style, neither is $240.00 for a queen-size spread. But thanks anyway. I found one for $80.00 on sale made in the Philipines. Oh, well...at least they don't hate us. | ||
Cheddar_bob Member Username: Cheddar_bob Post Number: 2103 Registered: 10-2003 |
So what you're saying is that you're patriotic to a degree. And that degree falls somewhere between $80 and $240 for a bedspread. Don't worry, I'm not $240/bedspread patriotic, either. | ||
Lilpup Member Username: Lilpup Post Number: 5474 Registered: 06-2004 |
"Short of creating a new CCC and WPA, I don't know how we can create the jobs without government handouts." This is why this needs to be addressed at the national level. Trade agreements need to be rigorously enforced so that the US economy does not benefit regions or companies using child or slave labor or perpetrating human rights abuses. One Presidential candidate said he'd remove the tariff on Brazilian ethanol but Brazilian ethanol production is known to have a large slave labor component. The child labor issue in India is well documented. While all the auto companies got rapped a couple of years ago about slave labor use in the Brazilian pig iron industry all but Toyota immediately addressed the problem. Toyota, Nissan, and possibly Honda also all benefited from a Japanese training program that exploited other Asian workers - http://www.iht.com/articles/20 07/07/26/business/sxlabor.php The (theoretical) idea behind globalization was to raise others' standard of living, not allow corporations to destroy the US economy by exploiting people in other countries. The US government needs to take a serious stand against any imports by any company that benefit from human rights abuses. | ||
Sstashmoo Member Username: Sstashmoo Post Number: 2743 Registered: 02-2007 |
Quote: "So what you're saying is that you're patriotic to a degree. And that degree falls somewhere between $80 and $240 for a bedspread." Funny.. | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 5447 Registered: 02-2005 |
On one hand, the idea of policing the economies of other countries sounds like no big deal, because we already police the world militarily. Another plus to your argument is that there certainly is such thing as unfair competition. If those exploitations happened on our soil, they'd be cracked down on, but they don't get addressed in S. America or China (because of the fault of those governments). One can make a good argument for policing other countries' markets if we say that this is now 'one, world economy' and we're all in it together. On the other hand, those policing would hardly be welcome by those other governments. Also, due to possible overbreadth, we could risk taking jobs from people in other countries who are fine with their situation and aren't being 'abused.' We also have to remember that where many of these people's are being 'exploited,' their wages are still higher than they were before those companies showed up. There's a reason why they take those jobs. It seems to me the right thing to do is to make American companies with operations overseas abide by American labor standards...but leave it at that. Tariffs are generally not okay. Do you think those exploited Brazilian workers are better of now compared to if the US could buy their product? Probably not. But if we did remove the tariff and purchase from them, that would give us the standing to put stipulations e.g. on our purchases to make sure that 'slave labor' isn't responsible for producing the ethanol (this is the notion of 'fair trade). But right now we have no standing to do anything about those workers. Unless you want to invade another country. I have a strong inkling that, even with fair trade across the board, the rust belt would be in the pretty much the same situation. I believe doing these things would make the citizens of the world better off (and that's fine), but could only help Americans in terms of our state of mind. It won't create many, if any, jobs in Detroit. | ||
Otter Member Username: Otter Post Number: 326 Registered: 12-2007 |
When I see Buyamerican's mantra enough times (over and over and over again...) i start thinking of non-automotive analogs: WHAT YOU EAT EATS AMERICA! WHAT YOU WEAR WEARS AMERICA! WHAT YOU WATCH WATCHES AMERICA! WHAT YOU DO DOES AMERICA! Etc. If I were motivated enough I would find make macros by pairing them as captions with images. Sorry (sort of) for the not-very-serious contribution. | ||
Lilpup Member Username: Lilpup Post Number: 5476 Registered: 06-2004 |
"It seems to me the right thing to do is to make American companies with operations overseas abide by American labor standards...but leave it at that." Absolutely not. If any company wants access to the US market then they need to meet US standards. If they don't then they don't get access. That's the only way fair trade has a chance of being established. It's not going in and policing other countries' markets. It's not at all about invading other countries. It's about keeping those products that use exploitive labor out of our market. If India is fine with child labor, fine, but that doesn't mean those products using child labor need to be made available in the US. If Brazilian companies want access to our ethanol market then they need to eliminate the slave labor. What excuse in the world justifies Toyota's behavior? Aside from the Japanese training program abuses linked above they also were slow to disavow the Brazilian problem all the other automakers addressed right away when it was revealed. Toyota most likely wouldn't be where they are if they didn't take advantage of labor abuses. | ||
Wazootyman Member Username: Wazootyman Post Number: 396 Registered: 02-2006 |
quote: We're a capitalist society, not a charity. Much like one tending to the needs of their family - we should focus on helping our own, THEN improving the well-being of others. It's funny to me that it's an all or nothing deal with some of you. I drive a domestically designed, built and supplied car. I even have an American manufactured audio system in my home (Harman/Kardon Signature Series). That's a hard find. I buy local (Detroit) food whenever possible - choosing Better Made tortilla chips and Garden Fresh salsa, for instance. Still, a lot of the products in my home are made in China, India, etc. It's just not possible to be 100%. You do the best you can. Cars aren't like that. It's MUCH easier to buy domestic. Fact is, where we live, buying an American car is what's most important to all of us. You may be generous and charitable enough to think of the poor, undeveloped countries first, but I think of my neighbors. Out of all the purchase decisions I make, I know that buying a locally made car will affect my community most. I don't care if you work for Wal-Mart and drive a Honda. If any of the domestic three go down, you're just as screwed as everyone else. Last thought - I'm also amazed at the willingness to just forget and throw away an industry that has brought great wealth to so many Metro Detroiters over the years. I've seen estimates that if the domestic three were to go down, it would affect 2% of the nation's GDP. That's a big deal. (Message edited by wazootyman on October 24, 2008) | ||
Sean_of_detroit Member Username: Sean_of_detroit Post Number: 2050 Registered: 03-2008 |
^Buying American can be considered similar to charity. Especially true if poor quality helped them get into the situation they are in (not that the Big Three ever compromised quality for profit). | ||
Optima Member Username: Optima Post Number: 53 Registered: 12-2006 |
I believe we've got to define our terms a bit more on this site. What is an American car anymore? Is it a car produced abroad thereby employing foreign workers at their accepted wage standards by a company based in the US? Or, is it a car built in the US by a foreign-owned company that employs American workers to produce its products while the profits for the sale go to another country?? Let's think about it... The solution to the problems the auto industry and state as a whole are having were elucidated in books published in the mid-1980's. Government and inflexible industries such as the Big Three (okay, Two) are reactionary entities that only respond to the problems after their ill effects have been felt. Yes there are unexpected factors hastening their demise but preparations for this could have/should have been implemented years ago. Solutions will not come quickly now... It is incredibly hard to watch but as a whole, our transition to an information-processing society has been in effect for many, many years now and the mfg sector has been dying since that reality has been present. I think it will end soon with an American alliance group of US automotive mfgrs to compete against the nationalized (heavily subsidized) car companies of Germany, Japan, Korea and only hope it all ends well... Cm (Message edited by optima on October 24, 2008) | ||
_sj_ Member Username: _sj_ Post Number: 2713 Registered: 12-2003 |
Why is their no American option, because these same people trying to shame you have been buying foreign for years. Why did Pennsylvania lose its steel base, because companies like the Big Three looked for cost savings and found cheaper steel elsewhere. quote: Cute, but not true. quote: So I assume you are willing to give back the Billions in foreign sales the American companies rake in. Or how about GM whose sales abroad account for over 50% of its entire sales. It is easy to propose these isolationist theories but another to actually implement them and deal with the consequences of still smaller companies through smaller sales. Stop holding onto the past and prepare for the future, something this area long forgot hoping the world would be devastated by war forever. (Message edited by _sj_ on October 24, 2008) | ||
Leannam1989 Member Username: Leannam1989 Post Number: 78 Registered: 06-2008 |
Is Michigan's economy not diversified enough? | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 5448 Registered: 02-2005 |
Wazooty, did you notice the inherent contradiction in what you said? You propose not buying the least cost good made overseas because doing that, which benefits both the consumer and the worker in the other country, is "charity," but then you suggest that it is right and good to buy the similar or inferior American good because it was made here. Sounds like charity to me. If I have to choose between quality item at low price from a poor country versus lesser quality item at higher price made by some American joe-shmo just because he's was born and lives within the political boundary as me, I'm going to choose the former, and not be very compelled by the reasons you suggest for doing that latter (which are inherently charitable). Sounds pretty 'mean-spirited,' right? Well, no, not really, because there is no factual basis for 'economic patriotism.' | ||
Buyamerican Member Username: Buyamerican Post Number: 822 Registered: 02-2007 |
For all of you nay-sayers, a quote from Sunday's Free Press that should make you shutter: "If either of the two biggest Detroit auto companies falls in the next 12 months, it could threaten some 4.5 million jobs nationally, health benefits for 775,000 people, and cause untold losses in industries such as steel, rubber, aluminum, copper and plastics. For General Motors Corp. or Ford Motor Co. both still among the 10 biggest companies in the nation according to Fortune Magazine, or Chrysler LLC, which is smaller but still critical, to run out of money to operate would be a diaster from which not just Michigan but the country would take years to recover." Does any of the above sound familiar? If you couldn't see the handwriting on the wall before, try to digest the remarks now....because all of us are going to suffer tremendously in the future because of the diehard foreign car buyers who thought foreign was better. Laugh if you want, but the slogan WHAT YOU DRIVE, DRIVES AMERICA! is ringing truer and truer each day. OUT OF A JOB YET? KEEP BUYING FOREIGN. | ||
Jams Member Username: Jams Post Number: 9534 Registered: 10-2003 |
Sorry Buyamerican, I find it a bit hypocritical that the BIG 3 are trying to claim our hearts by equating buying their products as patriotic. Much of the decline of American manufacturing was due to their practice of buying cheaper foreign materials and components, even going so far as forcing their suppliers to relocate facilities out of our borders in order to continue to do business with them. Look at the steel industry in this country after the BIG 3 decided it was in their best economic interest to buy "cheaper" foreign steel rather than American steel. How many jobs were lost because of that? How many jobs and businesses were lost when suppliers either refused or couldn't relocate overseas or Mexico and the BIG 3 dropped them? It's come to bite them (and us) in a big way. |
