Thread: China to overtake US as largest manufacturer

China to overtake US as largest manufacturer

By Peter Marsh in London
Published: August 10 2008 22:37 | Last updated: August 10 2008 22:37

China is set to overtake the US next year as the world’s largest producer of manufactured goods, four years earlier than expected, as a result of the rapidly weakening US economy.

The great leap is revealed in forecasts for the Financial Times by Global Insight, a US economics consultancy. According to the estimates, next year China will account for 17 per cent of manufacturing value-added output of $11,783bn and the US will make 16 per cent.

Last year the US was still easily in the top slot and accounted for a fifth of the total. China was second with 13.2 per cent.

John Engler, president of the National Association of Manufacturers, a Washington-based trade group, played down the effect of the projections. It was “inevitableâ€

I don't remember if it was TV or radio but they were talkiing about this. They said the Chinese were offended when they hear that America is loosing jobs because of the Chinese. They feel they took over the "cheap market".....know they did, but America was always known for better quality products and they haven't taken that market away. That they are saddened to see us give-up so quickly and stop producing when we could easily compete by manufacturing better quality products than they do.

Which made sense I suppose.......but I'm not all that knowledgable in that topic. All I know is the rich control the wealth and when you have long term companies pull the rug out for cheap labor, it's not like we have alot who can step in and take over. It wasn't so bad when it was just cheap products, but it quickly reached the middle class area as well. Now it seems it's either very rich or cheap products. And no real choice anymore. Especially when you find out it's the same thing.....just a different tag sewn in or something. One's impressive sounding, costs more, but isn't much different than the cheap version.

I just started reading my toothpaste tube, and skin cream bottles, (I know, get a life) and I was amazed at how many say nothing more than Dist. by Johnson & Johnson, CVS Pharmacy or whatever American company with an American contact address. It says nothing about "proudly manufactured in our factory in Szechuan, Shanghai or Mumbai." It is getting to the point where you never know where anything was made and there should be truth in labeling for everything. It is very frustrating to try to buy American.

just started reading my toothpaste tube, and skin cream bottles, (I know, get a life) and I was amazed at how many say nothing more than Dist. by Johnson & Johnson, CVS Pharmacy or whatever American company with an American contact address. It says nothing about "proudly manufactured in our factory in Szechuan, Shanghai or Mumbai." It is getting to the point where you never know where anything was made and there should be truth in labeling for everything. It is very frustrating to try to buy American.

LOL......sometimes it's nothing more than .....distributed from......great, a warehouse.