Study: US manufacturers gaining competitiveness
Source: Associated Press
Study: US manufacturers gaining competitiveness
By PAUL WISEMAN, AP Economics Writer | April 24, 2014 | Updated: April 25, 2014 2:29am
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. manufacturers have grown more competitive over the past decade compared with factories in China, Brazil and most of the world's other major economies.
So says a new private study, which found that rising wages and higher energy costs have diminished China's long-standing edge over the United States. So has a boom in U.S. shale gas production. It's reduced U.S. natural gas prices and slowed the cost of electricity.
The Boston Consulting Group is issuing a report Friday on its study of manufacturing costs in the 25 biggest exporting countries. Only seven of those countries had lower manufacturing costs than the United States did this year. And since 2004, U.S. manufacturers have improved their competitiveness compared with every major exporter except India, Mexico and the Netherlands.
In 2004, for example, manufacturing in China cost 14 percent less than manufacturing in the United States. By this year, the China advantage had narrowed to 5 percent. If the trends continue, Boston Consulting found, U.S. manufacturing will be less expensive than China's by 2018.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Study-US-manufacturers-gaining-competitiveness-5428519.php
= new reply since forum marked as read
think of how low the wages will be when we become even more competitive!
