{"id":280,"date":"2012-01-17T19:22:01","date_gmt":"2012-01-18T03:22:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/savingusmanufacturing.com\/blog\/?p=280"},"modified":"2012-01-17T19:22:01","modified_gmt":"2012-01-18T03:22:01","slug":"what-could-we-do-right-now-to-create-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/savingusmanufacturing.com\/blog\/reshoring\/what-could-we-do-right-now-to-create-jobs\/","title":{"rendered":"What Could We Do Right Now to Create Jobs?"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are numerous ideas and recommendations on how we could create jobs that range from the cautious to the extreme. \u00a0Most job creation programs proposed by commentators, politicians, and economists involve either increased government spending or reductions in income or employment taxes at a time of soaring budget deficits and decreased government revenue. \u00a0Other recommendations would require legislation to change policies on taxation, regulation, or trade that would be difficult to accomplish. Many of these solutions involve borrowing money or taking money from one group of citizens or a future generation to give to another. \u00a0Let\u2019s start with what we as individuals can do from the viewpoint of entrepreneurs, business owners, employees, and consumers.<\/p>\n

If you are an entrepreneur starting a company, find a niche product for which customers will be willing to pay more for a \u201cMade in USA\u201d product.\u00a0\u00a0 Plan to sell your product on the basis of its \u201cdistinct competitive advantage\u201d rather than on the basis of lowest price.\u00a0 Select your suppliers from American companies as this will create jobs for other Americans.<\/p>\n

If you are the owner of an existing manufacturing company, then you could do a Total Cost of Ownership analysis for component parts that you are having made offshore to see if you could \u201creshore\u201d some of all of them to be made in the United States.\u00a0 Check out www.reshorenow.org<\/a> for a TCO worksheet estimator to conduct your analysis.\u00a0 Also, you could choose to keep R&D in the United States or bring it back to the United States if you have \u201coffshored\u201d it.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Every manufacturing job you keep or bring back to the United States will create an average of three to four support jobs for other Americans.\u00a0 If you are a service company, you could choose to keep your customer service department in the United States or bring it back if it is \u201coffshored.\u201d\u00a0 If enough manufacturing is \u201creshored\u201d from China, we would drastically reduce our trade\u00a0 $600 billion trade deficit .\u00a0 We could create as many as three million manufacturing jobs, which would, in turn, create 9 \u2013 12 million total jobs, bringing our unemployment down to 4 percent.<\/p>\n

If you are an inventor ready to get a patent or license agreement for your product, select American companies to make parts and assemblies for your product as much as possible.\u00a0 There are some electronic components that are no longer made in the U. S., so it may not be possible to source all of the component parts with American companies.\u00a0 As I\u2019ve written previously, there are many hidden costs to doing business offshore so that in the long run you may not save as much money as you expect by sourcing your product offshore.\u00a0 Don\u2019t forget about the danger of having your Intellectual Property stolen by a foreign company that will use it to make a copy-cat or counterfeit product sold at a lower price than your product.<\/p>\n

If you are fortunate enough to have a regular, stable job, do everything in your power to contribute to the success of your company.\u00a0 Do your job to the best of your ability.\u00a0 Be willing to learn new job skills to increase your value to your employer. \u00a0No matter what your job, adopt the marketing mindset where you realize that everyone in a company is part of the marketing team regardless of their job function.\u00a0 Every interaction that a customer or potential customer has with anyone in a company influences his or her opinion about doing business with that company.\u00a0 Even though you are being paid by your employer, it\u2019s actually your company\u2019s customers that provide you with a job.<\/p>\n

You may not realize it, but you have tremendous power as a consumer.\u00a0 Even large corporations pay attention to trends in consumer buying, and there is beginning to be a trend to buy \u2018Made in USA\u201d products.\u00a0 Pay attention to the country of origin labels when you shop and buy \u201cMade in USA\u201d products whenever possible.\u00a0 Be willing to step out of your comfort zone and ask the store owner or manager to carry more \u201cMade in USA\u201d products. \u00a0\u00a0If you buy products online, there are now a plethora of online sources dedicated to selling only \u201cMade in USA\u201d products.\u00a0 \u00a0Each time you choose to buy an American-made product, you help save or create an American job.\u00a0 There is a ripple effect in that every manufacturing job creates three to ten other manufacturing jobs, depending on the industry.\u00a0 If 200 million Americans bought $20 worth of American products instead of Chinese, it would reduce our trade imbalance with China by four billion dollars.\u00a0 During the ABC World News series called \u201cMade in America,\u201d Diane Sawyer has repeatedly said, \u201cIf every American spent an extra $3.33 on U. S.-made goods, it would create almost 10,000 new jobs in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s consider what Congress could do to create jobs.\u00a0 First, Congress must enact legislation that addresses China\u2019s currency manipulation.\u00a0 Most economists believe that China\u2019s currency is undervalued by 30-40% so their products may be cheaper than American products on that basis alone.\u00a0 To address China\u2019s currency manipulation and provide a means for American companies to petition for countervailing duties, the Senate passed S. 1619 last fall.\u00a0 Even though the corresponding bill in the House, H. R. 639, had bi-partisan support with 231 co-sponsors, GOP leadership bottled up the bill in committee and prevented it from being brought up for a vote, so the session ended without action to address this serious issue.\u00a0 The 112th Congress lasts two years, starting in Jan 2011 and ending December 2012, so there is the opportunity for the bill to be voted on this year.<\/p>\n

We\u00a0 voters need to pressure our elected representatives in the House to pass this bill this year so that American products can compete against Chinese imports. \u00a0It\u2019s an obvious fact that if American companies can increase sales of their products, then they will be able to hire more workers.<\/p>\n

Second, Congress should pass legislation allowing American corporations to \u201crepatriate\u201d income earned by plants in foreign countries at a reduced tax rate of 5-5.5% if the income is permanently reinvested in the United States. \u00a0This would bring nearly 1.2 billion dollars of monies back to the U. S. to be invested in R&D, plants, equipment, and hiring workers.<\/p>\n

Third, Congress should strengthen and tighten procurement regulations to enforce \u201cbuying American\u201d for all government agencies and not just the Department of Defense.\u00a0\u00a0 All federal spending should have \u201cbuy America provisions giving American workers and businesses the first opportunity at procurement contracts.\u00a0 New federal loan guarantees for energy projects should require the utilization of domestic supply chains for construction.\u00a0 No federal, state, or local government dollars should be spent buying materials, equipment, supplies, and workers from China.<\/p>\n

My other recommendations for creating jobs are based on improving the competitiveness of American companies by improving the business climate of the United States so that there is less incentive for American manufacturing companies to outsource manufacturing offshore or build plants in foreign countries.\u00a0 The proposed legislation would also close tax loopholes and prevent corporations from avoiding paying corporate income taxes.\u00a0 They are:<\/p>\n