Quote Originally Posted by Mato Kuwapi View Post
in order to get the price to where people will buy it, they have to look at not paying North American wages.
Note: this is an honest question -- Not a troll.

I've always been curious about this. Apparently the issue of US wages is real since it seems like almost all consumer-goods manufacturing is going over seas. Still, the numbers don't make all that much sense to me. Is there anyone in the business who can educate me?

Say an American company is trying to sell a pair of $300 waders that takes a factory one man-hour to assemble. If the assembly is done by US workers, that hour might cost $25 (wages + benefits + taxes). Contracted to Asia, maybe that hour would cost $5 (wages + shipping). Difference is $20.

Is that enough to force the issue? Will enough consumers pay $300 for that pair of waders to keep the company going but refuse to buy the waders for $320? Or maybe they split the difference. Plenty of profit and plenty of customers at $290, but not enough of either at $310?

Obviously, that $20 on a $300 (+/-) item is a huge deal or manufacturers wouldn't be fleeing the US. Right?