This is a good time to say US manufacturers are starting to leave China to return to the US. The latest is Gerbing’s, the famous manufacturer of heated clothing used by outdoorsmen, motorcyclists etc. Back in the days Gerbing’s struck a deal with Harley-Davidson to distribute their items of clothing through H-D dealerships. H-D managed to persuade (details are unclear to this day) Mr Gerbing to move his manufacturing facilities to China to offer lower prices.
Mr Gerbing announced a few days ago he’s moving his manufacturing facilities back to the US. While he obviously said he’s “happy to hire 150 Americans” he didn’t hide the two chief reasons why he’s coming back. The first one are manufacturing prices “They are simply too high in China right now”. The second is quality control: Gerbing’s has developed a reputation for high quality and QC in China right now is “very difficult and expensive to implement”.
But of course things aren’t as easy as they seem.
During a recent press conference in Stoneville, Rockingham County, NC, where the new factory has been built and were operations will “hopefully” begin in May Gerbing spent lots of time decrying how bureaucracy made his return a “labor of love”. He had especially harsh words for State officials who seemed “inordinately” obsessed with how much tax money the new factory will bring in than with anything else.
He added one final phrase which I think people will find very interesting “If you think the government is trying to help you, you are wrong”.