Trump's China Tariffs Claim Another Victim: A South Carolina TV Manufacturing Plant:
The tariffs imposed by President Trump have claimed more jobs, this time at a consumer-electronics manufacturing plant in South Carolina.
Element Electronics blamed tariffs on Chinese imports for its decision to shut down its manufacturing facilities in Winnsboro, SC, a town located about 30 miles north of the state's capital. The plant, which makes Element TVs, will maintain a skeleton crew of eight workers, as it hopes the shutdown will be temporary."
The news is especially hard for Winnsboro and its surrounding communities because of recent job losses in the area, including the shuttering of a Walmart store, the closing of a textile mill, and the cancellation of plans to construct two nuclear reactors.
Element notified the state's Department of Employment about its plans, according to Columbia-based The State newspaper, which first reported on the plant's closing. In its notification, Element stated, "The layoff and closure is a result of the new tariffs that were recently and unexpectedly imposed on many goods imported from China, including the key television components used in our assembly operations in Winnsboro."
(Score: 5, Touché) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:03AM (52 children)
Are we tired of winning yet, 'Murrica?
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by idiot_king on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:20AM
They won't be tired until they're dead, looks like to me...
(Score: 4, Funny) by PartTimeZombie on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:20AM
Trade wars are good, and easy to win.
(Score: 5, Touché) by RS3 on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:22AM (22 children)
Wouldn't it be better if we (USA) made the parts instead of being dependent on China?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:30AM (1 child)
But environmental regulations are haaaaaardddddddduh.
(Score: 3, Funny) by RS3 on Thursday August 09 2018, @04:02AM
Is there a tariff on payola?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by takyon on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:32AM (13 children)
It's gonna take a few factory closures before the dependency ends.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 5, Informative) by RS3 on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:41AM
Quite right. And the compounding problem with factory closures like Element Electronics: the market for those parts shrinks, so nobody bothers to start up production of those parts.
In manufacturing it's never good to be dependent on a single-source for a critical part / component.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:45AM (11 children)
when they reported their quarterly earnings recently all the auto companies said revenues were down because of the steel and aluminum tariffs.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 4, Interesting) by RS3 on Thursday August 09 2018, @02:10PM (10 children)
20+ years ago I worked at a contract engineering company that did I&C (Instrumentation and Controls). You know, SCADA, PLCs, etc. CEO went for Fortune 100 (or 50) companies, so clients and projects were major. One huge multi-year project was for a brand new steel factory in China, doing things in completely new ways that could only be done with our engineering / automation abilities. They simply didn't know how at that time.
I wasn't on that project, and I don't think my soul would have allowed it. In those days China was considered much more of a mysterious threat. Even in those days there were stories of Chinese nationals getting jobs at major military research facilities and getting caught stealing secrets. And we (USA) didn't have "free trade" agreements like we have in the years since.
Anyway, I remember being torn- in spite of popular USA-bashing language around the world, we (USA) love helping other people to live better. We're very open to most of the world's people to come here and go to schools and universities, we send people abroad to teach, set up schools, do work, etc.
But at the same time I knew our (USA) steel factories were in decline. Like too many corporations, steel and its stockholders wanted short-term profit. Steel was the core business of the Industrial Revolution of the 1800s and had become too vulnerable to the short-term profiteering stockholders. Refitting a steel factory would cost big money. Nobody wanted to take that hit on the stupid stock market.
But China doesn't work that way. They do things as a collective. Their leaders have an extremely long-term investment attitude. It's not a level playing field at all.
So we've come full-circle- we've taught the Chinese how to make steel so efficiently that they can buy our scrap and raw materials, make steel, and ship it to USA cheaper than we can make it on our own soil. So our steel factories have been shutting down one by one for the past 25 years, and the few remaining only make very specialized expensive limited-market products.
Tariffs or not, we're now vulnerable to the Chinese.
I've seen this coming and I've never understood the "free trade" philosophy based on this predictable eventuality.
Keep in mind that cars are being made of more and more plastic, so there's that whole thing- similar to steel with EPA, OSHA, etc., and maybe worse with more chemicals and toxins, recycling concerns, etc.
All that said, hopefully the auto mfgrs. are smart enough and will invest in steel and aluminum manufacturing.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:38PM (3 children)
a while back there was a naturalized US citizen of Chinese origin who was busted for stealing nuclear secrets from Los Alamos.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Thursday August 09 2018, @05:04PM (2 children)
Yep, THAT guy. And I couldn't get a job at [major defense contractor] where my dad worked for years with likely top secret clearance but we don't know and weren't allowed to know and there's nothing in my background to prevent said employment just insane red tape with the shiny-shoe overly serious dudes who wanted to know where my dad's parents were born. The same dad. Yet Chinese guy gets access to far far greater stuff and sends it to motherland. That's how high the US govt. average IQ is shown to be.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday August 09 2018, @05:22PM (1 child)
I am completely convinced that his _real_ clearance was much higher than that.
He was in the Navy during Vietnam, got an MSEE with the GI Bill after the war then returned to the Navy as a civilian Civil Service engineer.
Much of his work at Mare Island Naval Shipyard was done on the Sea Wolf. Decades later a book is published that claims that the Sea Wolf was one of the subs that tapped into Soviet undersea fiber optic cables.
I wouldn't know, but I do know that Dad had this to say: "Aboard submarines there are some black boxes. And there are some quiet men who tend to those black boxes".
My father was a quiet man.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 10 2018, @05:50PM
A top secret or TS/SCI clearance would be typical for the sort of work your dad was doing.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:42PM (2 children)
-"
No one has yet complained that Soggy Jobs covers India [soggy.jobs].
In my opinion anyone who wants to better themselves through the sweat of their brow deserves all the encouragement they can get.
However, that I list jobs in India is intended to help Indian engineers find work close to home, without having to emigrate to a foreign country. I was once an immigrant in Canada. While Canada is in every way a wonderful country the entire time I was overcome with homesickness.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @07:09PM (1 child)
https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford/journal/3400 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday August 09 2018, @07:55PM
I have a special page for the European Union [soggy.jobs] because citizens of its member states can work anywhere in the EU.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Aiwendil on Thursday August 09 2018, @08:16PM (2 children)
This reminds me of an observation that James Clavell (the author of Shogun) made (to paraphrase heavily); westerners measure time in years but (east)asians measure time in generations.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Thursday August 09 2018, @08:25PM
That's so true. I'd write: "westerners measure time in milliseconds..."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @10:11PM
We count in quarters because that is how we do financial accounting. Our counting system contains these numbers: -1, 0, 1, 2
(Score: 5, Interesting) by lentilla on Thursday August 09 2018, @05:49AM (5 children)
Yes; it would; however you'd need to put a tariff on imported finished goods as well as imported parts to even the playing field. Almost nobody will buy a USA-made television for $500 when they can buy a Chinese-import for $250 (Veblen goods excepted).
For the life of me, I can't understand why the USA has put an import tariff on imported parts but not the finished items. It doesn't make sense - in fact it seems completely backwards. Surely if you want to Make America Great Again (and by that, I assume the intention is to have a healthy manufacturing sector), you'd either tax imports carte-blanche, or tax imported completed goods (the "lite" version).
Is anybody able to explain the rationale behind taxing imported parts? It just doesn't make sense.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @12:28PM
So, everybody gets into selling Veblin goods!
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Thursday August 09 2018, @02:17PM (2 children)
I wasn't even aware of that, but I'll speculate: USA is trying to protect manufacturing jobs all the way down to the raw materials. Other countries already do tariff our finished goods. If we tariff the finished goods, other countries will retaliate with even more tariffs.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Thursday August 09 2018, @02:19PM
[ on our finished goods. ]
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @08:21PM
I think the real reason is that the Commerce Secretary has a lot of money tied up in the raw materials side of trade, as compared to the finished goods side. He's already made millions of dollars on the tariffs by shorting stock before the tariffs came out (when caught, he basically said "oops, I didn't know I had those stocks").
(Score: 2) by legont on Friday August 10 2018, @02:30AM
Finished items are mostly made of parts produced outside of China. It would be unfair to charge Chinese for reexport. On the other hand, parts are more likely to be really made in China.
The whole thing is complicated because deficit is counted on the face value of finished product. Say (lazy to actually check the number) iphone causes reported deficit of $300 while real Chinese participation is about $6.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:32AM (7 children)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:37AM (4 children)
Made in 'Merica is already goddamned prominent [ghost32writer.com] in their branding. I'm pretty sure I've seen their TVs at Costco or someplace. What they can't do is magically source a bunch of parts that come from China and have skyrocketed in price due to tariffs.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:43AM (3 children)
Could we move Taiwan, I mean that island that's part of China, the people and all the good stuff, closer to USA? They'll feel safer, it'll be a win-win.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:04PM (1 child)
Well - generally speaking, land is not buoyant. So, moving Taiwan closer to the US would put it into deeper water, before it would reach shallow water again. That is very much akin to sinking. A lot of people are allergic to breathing dihydrous oxide, so it may not be the best move.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Thursday August 09 2018, @04:53PM
Well, you've come to a final conclusion without considering all of the facts and options (something very common these days).
There is a giant floating island of plastic in the Pacific. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_garbage_patch [wikipedia.org] Do you get where I'm going with this?
(Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Thursday August 09 2018, @09:25PM
Sorry, but the tectonic plate it is on is actually moving towards a collision with mainland China. It will hit in a few million years, thus finally joining the two together.
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:20PM
Except that the kind of people that lap this up also do most of their shopping at Walmart.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @08:08PM
Oh man, if I could go from loser to winner AND get a new TV? Sing me UP!
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:41AM (7 children)
There are of course Americans who happen to be in situations that put their personal welfare at odds with the general welfare of the USA. Yeah, they'll get hurt, but so many others will benefit. Hitching your welfare to a foreign frenemy wasn't very patriotic, so I won't be shedding any tears.
The tariffs mostly come with the willingness to eliminate them if the other side does as well. China has a choice. We aren't going to have 1-sided tariffs anymore, with China resisting American goods and the US ignoring the problem.
If that doesn't work... well, we can keep the tariffs. The resulting income can be used to cut other taxes. The entire USA was funded this way before World War I introduced the income tax. It works. It's even progressive: price-sensitive people buy American, and snooty rich folk pay more for their foreign stuff. Leftists should love it!
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Fluffeh on Thursday August 09 2018, @05:42AM (6 children)
You don't need tariffs to stop importing chinese made stuff. All you need is to convince the average American that it's worth paying more for the good of the country. The problem is that the average American doesn't seem to care. A cheap imported microwave might cost $50. The same product made in the US (from US parts etc) will cost a LOT more. Perhaps $200? Perhaps even more. I've done no maths on it, just spitballing. It seems really strange that the folks who cry "'Murica!" the are also the ones who can solve this deficit overnight.
Does China play nice? Certainly not. They play to win. They also play the long game. They do it well, but winning IS actually simple. It just needs support from the population rather than being forced from the top. Still, you could always start producing more stuff that the rest of the world wants. Beat China at their own game. Just sayin'.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by lentilla on Thursday August 09 2018, @06:04AM
Then you need import tariffs. Sorry. Unfortunately you have to force the great unwashed (the 80% who live paycheck-to-paycheck) to buy American, and the only way to do this is cost parity.
The unwanted effect will be that the price of everyday luxuries will rise dramatically (electronics particularly). This will disproportionately hurt the non-rich. The medium-term benefit is that the non-rich will be paid better and will be able to afford the higher sticker prices - this should take effect within a few years. The long-term benefit (couple of decades) is that the country will be far less beholden to foreign powers - and the citizens can have something to be proud about.
I really don't believe you can sell "buy American" without approximate price parity - unless you start a war to scare the population into eschewing foreign-made goods.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @10:18AM
After you trickled down on middle American for generations already, after the 1%ers moved production in China and let them play the 'service economy' (with less and less money in the system) at home, after you trickled them they have 'the right the credit' and fucked up the future offering them McMansions, well... it seems to me quite a gall to ask for support from them now.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:02PM
You're absolutely correct.
I personally prefer to pay more for a well-made product that will last much longer, and employ local people to repair if necessary. That's how it was for, well, forever, until maybe 15 years ago when electronics got so cheap nobody wants to pay for repair, and I can't blame them.
An additional factor is that people like "New!" I find new stuff to be made more cheaply and much more of a PITA (dishwashers and clothes washers come to mind).
But as you said, and others are commenting, the average American doesn't care about the country as a whole, other people's jobs, etc. So we see a proliferation of Wally World- cheap disposable crap, Sears and others declining, and the average American living standard dropping- not counting the 1% of course. That's where we needed a government to do their jobs.
I remember hearing "protectionism" decried over and over. Can someone explain to me how protecting your own country is a Bad Thing? Doesn't the US Constitution say that the Govt. is to protect the USA and people? Does the Constitution limit it to military attack and protection only?
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Thursday August 09 2018, @06:12PM (2 children)
I used to buy good that said "made in USA" and had a union label. They seem to have all disappeared. Assembled in USA somehow just doesn't resonate as well.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @10:21PM
A union label negates Made in USA.
The best is plain old Made in USA. After that comes the helpful countries like Poland and Japan. After that comes the insignificant places like Costa Rica and Angola. After that comes the union label stuff, and the frenemies like China and France. After that comes the places that just hate America, most of them because of Islam.
From one level to a better one, there is a price premium worth paying. Depending on my mood that might be 10% or 100%.
(Score: 2) by legont on Friday August 10 2018, @02:53AM
There are some, but rare. I recently bought such a jacket - leather A-2 military flight jacket - the one ground support aviation was using during WWII. Not a Chinese one, but a real original cut deal with union label. (the whole back of the jacket is made from one piece of leather; not sewed chunks. In fact there is no sewed together parts whatsoever unless required) https://www.legendaryusa.com/Legendary-Fighting-Falcon-Mens-A-2-Flight-Jacket.html [legendaryusa.com]
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday August 09 2018, @12:20PM (7 children)
Ever own an Element television? There's one sitting in my livingroom. I don't think there's a television manufacturer I'd rather see this happen to. Sucks about the jobs down in SC though. They weren't exactly rocking prosperity to begin with.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Thursday August 09 2018, @02:26PM (6 children)
My television is made of elements. What's your point? :-}
But seriously, I'd like it to happen to Vizio. Try getting service information on a Vizio. Try getting a repair. Try getting a warranty repair. Try not having to pay to ship it across the USA to the only "authorized service center", and then have them determine it is not a warranty issue. And then try not paying to have your broken TV sent back to you so you can find someone else to fix it, but now it's trashed by Vizio.
No, I didn't do that, but those are the logical steps for a Vizio. In other words, they're disposable.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday August 09 2018, @04:05PM (5 children)
Vizios at least are halfway decent when they're functioning as designed. Elements are designed to be pieces of shit.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Thursday August 09 2018, @04:56PM (4 children)
True that. I have a couple of Vizios (free, broken, fixed). No experience with an Element. Well, Honda Element.
Are you an unwitting beta tester for Element Electronics?
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday August 09 2018, @07:05PM (3 children)
Testing wouldn't help. They don't give a fuck enough to build in the features that might need testing. Like, say, the ability to show or not show the overscan area of the picture (Fuck Element and Fuck the Xbox One both for not giving you the option and disagreeing on the unchangeable setting). Or having to use the damned volume/channel change buttons to navigate their extremely anemic menus instead of a dpad button like everything else on the planet gets.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @08:12PM (1 child)
So NOW you're all about regulations on manufacturing?
#hypocrisy #trolldabird
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday August 09 2018, @08:58PM
Who said anything about regulations? I just know better than to buy one now.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by RS3 on Thursday August 09 2018, @08:37PM
Well, your response is a test result- customer wants more, waaaaa. :)
Ahhh, you need a great programmable remote control that will dig through the menus for you. Maybe CTS, Crestron, or a phone app with an IR emitter. More research needed when I have time...
You also need a fancy but fast scan converter. Not sure if Extron, Kramer, makes what you want but maybe. https://www.markertek.com/category/scan-converters [markertek.com]
I might loan you my TView QuadScan depending on the quality of the hookers you promised but I'm still waiting for you to send.
(Score: 1) by Captival on Thursday August 09 2018, @11:17PM (2 children)
4.1% growth this quarter. Record high stock market, record low unemployment.
No, we're not. You fucking have to cherrypick this shit little company that nobody ever heard of to make your point.
Sorry that Trump doesn't want your kind in the military, but that's no reason to spread lies and propaganda about him.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday August 10 2018, @02:11AM (1 child)
If you think the stock market represents the economy at large, or that you're being shown the actual unemployment rate (hint: U3 and U6 are very different numbers...) *you're* the one who's fallen victim to propaganda. I am closer to the street, uncomfortably so in many cases, than most people, and I see things getting worse for the average American.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by legont on Friday August 10 2018, @03:16AM
The method of calculation of unemployment did not change under Trump and the numbers are way better. The GDP numbers are better than even the wildest projections of Republicans.
As per BS in unemployment calculations, it was introduced by the bitch's husband president Clinton. He also ended welfare for poor and reformed criminal justice system so all the folks who lost welfare could be sent directly to prisons.
It was predicted those days that it will cost him and it did when his wife started to get "Hilary to prison" car badges from poor. Democrats got what they deserved and I really hope that once Trump is reelected he will put Hilary to prison as he promised during the campaign.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:09AM (3 children)
My best guess, the whole tariff gambit is just another way to distract us from what Trump & Company is really up to--which is making big bucks for he and his buddies. Squirrel anyone?
Meanwhile, lots of companies and their staff members are going to be collateral damage.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:34AM (2 children)
Making big bucks? No... been there, done that. He now wants to be in the history books, he's having fun, and he gets the satisfaction of making America great again.
There are enough obvious motives that it is silly to imagine ulterior ones.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday August 09 2018, @08:22PM
Paul Manafort appeared to have already made the megabucks too...
There's a pretty obvious motive for being the first US President to NOT release his tax returns.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @09:27PM
I'm pretty sure his plan is to fuck up the US and then escape to Russia when the consequences catch up.
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by realDonaldTrump on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:30AM (3 children)
Folks, it was my great honor to attend the opening of Foxconn's new plant in Wisconsin that will manufacture state of the art LCDs -- adding on average $3.4 billion to the state's economy every single year. And provide jobs for up to 15,000 Wisconsin Workers! Making the LCD Panels, big big part of a television. As Foxconn has discovered, there is no better place to build, hire and grow than right here in the United States! America is open for business and we are competitive once again!!!
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:47AM (2 children)
Yeah but are we right back in the need-parts-from-China boat again?
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @04:50PM (1 child)
Um ... we can't afford a boat that's made in America, and we can't import Chinese boats anymore. So we're up a creek without ... anything.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Thursday August 09 2018, @05:00PM
Oh, great, now you're going to tell me we don't even make the paddles anymore either?
(Score: 4, Interesting) by opinionated_science on Thursday August 09 2018, @12:23PM (5 children)
Since when did "blame" become "evidence"?
I'm sure tariffs will cause problems, but the cynical voice in my head, suggests it maynot be so obvious...
Either that, or this company was so inefficient, this is a good scapegoat (bankruptcy being a thing).
I'm thinking this is all a distraction...
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Thursday August 09 2018, @02:44PM (4 children)
I don't know all the details, but I know enough about electronics and manufacturing to say that there's no way I would ever try to compete in such a highly competitive, extremely dynamic, tight profit market. It's not possible, in USA, to be as efficient as Asian manufacturing. The numbers are staggering. The quality is often much less, but you can afford to test and toss anything that requires more than a few minutes of repair.
I don't know if the Element founders / investors are just overly optimistic dreamers, or maybe it was a politically-motivated media sensation- "looky here, Made in 'Murica!" Jobs for the poor!
All that said, we do make electronics here in USA, including a surprising (to me) number of consumer products. The big problem with TVs, etc., is the screen. That's most likely the thing that's hurting Element. Possibly a power supply transformer too (if someone wanted to make power supplies...)
(Score: 2) by opinionated_science on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:30PM (1 child)
well thanks for responding. I feel as if the news outlets simply riff of each other to get clicks, with no *actual* news.
As a scientist, I have seen this in journals too....Not always bad, if there are a collection of good papers on a subject.
The signal/noise of today's world seems to be dropping...
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Thursday August 09 2018, @05:27PM
Awesome to converse with you. I consider myself a scientist, but couldn't afford or stomach the many years of schooling to get the letters after my name. Lowly applied physicist, aka BSEE with some MS coursework.
Yes, the "news" is a problem. From what I read, most of it comes through an aggregator like AP or UPI. I'm very frustrated by people having such strong opinions about the world when most of what they "know" comes from "news". And I'm not knocking the news as much as it sounds; people just need to consider that the news reporters aren't everywhere covering everything, so you really don't have a balanced view of the world.
Many people might remember the Exxon Valdez disaster. Through close personal connections I met and hung out with the head attorney for the civil lawsuit against the captain. The case was ongoing at the time. This attorney told me some facts, in strict (violation of) confidence, that were very different from what the "news media" was telling us. I learned then, 25+ years ago, to take the news media with a huge grain of salt. Even when they give actual facts, there might be huge gaps and missing yet critical information. For example, the news media was saying that the Valdez captain was drunk. They failed to tell you that he was off duty. Captains don't steer ships 24/7. They work in shifts like everyone else. He only had a beer, completely legal and allowed. There's much more...
And then we have the infrequent but still problematic bias, games, money, etc., in "science" journals and websites.
But yes, as a BSEE I've worked in electronics manufacturing a bunch and have friends who do now. One guy makes electronic fence dog collar circuits, for example, and he occasionally tells me about his US production vs. the Asian / Chinese stuff they also have done. And I've worked at companies that had stuff made in Mexico and China. The stuff was so bad that they had to discontinue- the rework and reject rate made it cost more than US made. The one place was making 27,000 circuit boards / day when I left.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @10:28PM (1 child)
Samsung for example, makes a huge portion of the screens for everything, including for what might seem like competitors. LG is also in Korea. Sony is in Japan.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Friday August 10 2018, @02:37AM
Yes and no. Many "Samsung" and most Sony panels say "Made in China" on them. I've worked on a few dozen. I forget about LG...