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Canada is hardly a cheap country. Just ask those that live there about how cheap it is to live.



Not all of Toyota's sold in the USA are built here. A friend of the family just got a Corrola and it was made in Japan.





Tom
 
No Canada is not cheap, I live here.



Tom if any country you should be pissed off at it is China, that trade deficit

needs to come down with them.
 
Gwac says:
Tom if any country you should be pissed off at it is China, that trade deficit needs to come down with them.



Why? How exactly is the Chinese trade deficit negatively impacting the average consumer and/or worker in this country?
 
TJR



Some would say that it is moving manufacturing jobs out of the US to

cheap countries. I am 100% behind free trade. IMHO countries should only

produce what the can competively without artifically supporting those industries.

It is a waste of resources. IMHO US and Canada and western europe will

continue to become service based countries (exporting services/ importing goods.

 
Gwac, regarding your statement: "Some would say that it is moving manufacturing jobs out of the US to cheap countries"; all I can say is that I am 40 years old, and ever since I can remember, when I flip over a product and look under it, stamped on it are the words: "Made in China" (or similar).



So, this is NOT a new trend. It is tough to tell someone who has worked a manufacturing job for 30 years and has lost that job that times are good, but, they are, for most all Americans. Unemployment is VERY low in this country. So, it seems that though we have lost manufacturing jobs, joblessness is not a big problem. Sure, many with counter with "underemployed" and "McJobs" rhetoric, but consumer spending and earnings just don't show that.



One thing I am sure of, whenever the government has tried to regulate trade and tamper with our economy the results haven't been good.



TJR
 
Agreed on that, Gwac, and the biggest problem I see with trade with China today is the general and widespread blatant disregard for our country's copyright and intellectual property laws (read: bootlegging).



America moved from an agricultural to a manufacturing giant early in the last century. Then, from a manufacturing giant to a knowledge working giant late in that same century; and that movement is ongoing today.



To be a country that exports "Knowledge Work", we have to develop products and services that lead; are innovative and filled with intellectual property. As we do that, we cannot have that leadership position STOLEN by those that seek to simply resell or emulate/copy without due compensation.



TJR
 
TJR



Unfortunatey there are those countries that do not play fair. That`s why I brought up

China. The exchange rate is another problem with China, the currency is artifically

kept low. That why US interest rates have stayed low. China has to invest

the US dollars it gets from Trade.



 
Yes, Gwac, trade with China is unfair due to many of the reasons you mention; but it is NOT unfair simply because it is unbalanced because we import more than we export (in USD figures), because I suspect that will be the way it will be for many more years, even IF all things were otherwise right.



But, it won't be unbalanced forever. China is on the verge of being a consumption powerhouse.
 
TJR



People have to look at it this way. These trade inbalances create the ability

for a country to buy services and knowledge products
 
That's right. If we didn't "give a little", so to speak, with China now, in an unbalanced trade, they wouldn't continue to grow in terms of capitalism and individual consumer spending capability the way they have the last 15 years. That growth will pay off; and is paying off. Oh, and that seems like a temporary "hand up" to China, a sort of charity I guess, but it's really an investment because it should be temporary AND pay off in the future.
 
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Here, take Thailand and the Phillippeans for example, where they make and SELL the Ranger (yes, to the US as well - there are two of the "cheap" nations). I wonder how many of these "non-Americans" they employ, and how many make up that 327K employee count.



You are a liar. Ford does not build a Ranger in Thailand or the Phillippeans to sell in the USA. All Rangers sold in the USA are built in Notrh America. If the vehicle is sold in Thailand, then I have no problem with those vehicles built there.



You know that those Rangers built in Thailand never make it to the USA.





Tom
 
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Caymen says
You are a liar.



You sound like my kids, but then, they are 10 and 12 years old. The other day I had to discuss with them what it means to call someone a liar. First, I said, you have to be sure you have your facts straight. In order to call someone a liar, you have to know for sure that THEY know the truth and are purposefully telling a lie. The reason for this is the person may simply be INCORRECT. Saying that which you KNOW is not true makes one a LIAR. Saying that which you THINK is true, but is not correct makes one INCORRECT, but not a liar.



For example: Did Bush LIE about WMDs or was he INCORRECT.



In other words Caymen...lighten up!



TJR
 
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That growth will pay off; and is paying off. Oh, and that seems like a temporary "hand up" to China, a sort of charity I guess, but it's really an investment because it should be temporary AND pay off in the future.



And when it doesn't pay off? How about if the USA goes to war, where will be get our steel from. I do not consider Iraq a real war like the USA has seen before. War with Japan and Germany was a real war. Imagine China getting 90% of the steel industry. What is our soldiers going to fight with. Discarded AOL CD-ROM's? We gonna build our tanks and ships with software?



Not everyne has the desire, or ability, to be a pencil pushing desk jocky.



I feel it is going to come to a head and developed countries are going to be the ones falling on thier face. I see nothing but bad news on the horizon.





Tom
 
No one ever recommended abandoning all manufacturing Caymen. The simple truth is we don't need as many steel factories as we once did, and are likely to ever need as many as we once had, even if there IS WWIII.



Your statement about not everyone having the desire nor ability to be a pencil pushing desk jockey shows your contempt for those that do the job, and makes you no better than those that you admonish for calling unionized folks "overpaid, unskilled...". The street of hate and bigotry seems to run both ways there.



And, I never assumed everyone would have to move to knowledge work when I made my statement. We STILL have farmers today, we STILL have manufacturing and factory jobs today, and we will still have them tomorrow. BUT, grab on to something, because PROGRESS and CHANGE stop for no man, and THIS COUNTRY IS moving towards a new, dominant export, and its no longer agri, nor manufacturing, it is knowledge work.



BTW, do you think you are looked at in your inspector role by some whose work you inspect with some level of contempt, because they might feel that you don't work as hard as them, or have it as difficult as they do? If so, is that fair?



TJR
 
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BTW, do you think you are looked in your inspector role by some whose work you inspect with some level of contempt, because they might feel that you don't work as hard as them, or have it as difficult as they do? If so, is that fair?



It used to happen every day. Inspectors cost companies money. Money to repair a problem. Money paying someone to repair that problem. Missed shipping dates, job stalling, etc. It goes with the territory.



As for Q. He likes to make comments that he knows are just out there. No Ford Ranger is built overseas that is sold in the USA. That is a fact. Those built in Thailand are right hand drive.



As for the Bish was incorrect or lied, I will say he lied. Memo said he was going to invade Iraq no matter what.





Tom
 
Caymen, you say that "bigotry" used to happen everyday. Why do you think it stopped? Is it possible you educated those as to the value your provide and then, with that education they viewed you in a different light?



If so, I think everyone needs that same level of enlightenment when they look at the jobs others do with contempt; whether looking UP the pay scale, or DOWN.



TJR
 
I changed jobs.



With that new job, I have the authority to stop a job if I feel it is in the best intrest of our customer and I have a card in my pocket that says if you try to do something to me for it, the whole shop can go take a walk to the street and refuse to work until the problem gets taken care of.



That pretty much settles the score and levels the playing field.





Tom
 
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