I've been into this whole "Made in the USA" thing since I was 13 (yea...what does a 13yr old care about economy...right???). My dad was the Alabama rep. for an organazation called SAM Now (Save American Manufacturing). When fuel prices started to sky rocket about 3yrs ago, my dad noticed industries starting to come back. How do products from the ports make it to the store? What happens when the price it takes to get it to the store increases? It becomes not worth it. Which in turns makes "American Made" just as competitve.
My background is the industrial apparell maufacuring. I'm a 3rd generation sewing mechanic. My dad and his dad had done it all their life. When NAFTA got signed, it was all down hill from their. I've been to several auctions of large maufacurers that have closed down and gone over seas. Last plant closing I was involved in was, my dad bought a Levis factory up in North Carolina (same time fuel prices were rising). This was the last Levi factory left in the U.S. We ran a liquidation of the equipment out of there for 9 months. Surprisingly, 95% of the equipment was sold stayed in the U.S.
As far as the industry from Japan, whatever is lost I believe China will absorb. They set their own currency...it doesn't fluctuate with the rest of the world.
