Manufacturing is the foundation upon which the service sector sits. If the manufacturing foundation
continues to erode, who are the accounting, advertising, and law firms going to serve? Each other?
When a dollar leaves the economy in exchange for a product made, say, in China, not only does that dollar
not contribute to someone's paycheck or stock dividend here, it also funds investment in improved plant and equipment in China.
Even worse, our taxes must be increased to support a larger unemployed workforce.
Technology follows manufacturing.
There's abundant evidence that when a plant making products for the American market closes here and
reopens in another country, technology in the form of engineering soon follows. The first to disappear here is manufacturing
engineering, followed soon thereafter by test engineers, design engineers, systems designers, project managers, accountants,
et al. We must remember that these are not just disciplines, they are jobs.
Eventually, we lose the technology base upon which that business rests. Of course, there are exceptions
but the swelling tide of imports over exports gives indisputable testament to this fact.
We're not opposed to free trade (assuming it is fair). Nor are we opposed to other countries' economic growth.
But we are concerned that as higher paying manufacturing jobs are replaced by lower paying service jobs (or growing
unemployment) that we are headed in the wrong direction.
The tubes our major competitor makes are manufactured outside the United States. Our
tubes (Tree Pro tree protectors and Miracle Tube tree shelters) are MADE IN THE U.S.A.
