US Export History

In the 1960s, US companies did establish manufacturing plants in countries where their products would be sold.  They also established plants in low wage countries if the touch labor component was significant.  But, US companies were cautious about investing in countries that were politically unstable or dangerous. 

In the 1970s, Texas Instruments developed the transistor, heralding the death of the vacuum tube and allowing lots of innovation for products that would increase productivity in most industries.  Engineers were writing firmware programs for their Z-80 chips, Zilog’s 8 bit microprocessor.  Big, expensive mechanical desktop calculators were replaced by small, cheap electronic calculators.  Portable phones were developed that could pick up signals using radio frequency RF technology.  Robotized welders were being developed along with other advances in automation.  Electronics for airplanes and tractors improved previous devices.  PCs were being built by hobbyists and Radio Shack developed the TRS-80 PC.  Bell Labs, Kodak, IBM, Microsoft, Apple and other US companies contributed these technology advances.  The Japanese developed electronic component insertion machines and wave solder machines.  The Germans developed more refined machine tools.  Foreign countries were requiring some industries to do their final assembly in their country, but electronics and finished products like cars, tractors and automation equipment continued to be exported.

In the 1980s, US electronics companies had developed PCs and programmable logic controllers for almost every product, industry and application.  US Exports rose markedly as other industries in other countries scrambled to get productivity-enhancing products and technology.  This created a boom in US exports.  US companies sold their latest products to US companies and consumers and could sell last years’ products to foreign countries.  Sales volume doubled.  As microprocessors became faster and cheaper, so did the devices. 

In the 1990s, PC prices fell from $5000 to $3000 and microprocessors became fast enough to handle the internet.  By the end of the 1990s, PCs were selling for under $1000.  Cell phones were the next big product to develop and Telecom was preparing to retool.  Satellites and ground stations had been equipped with the capability to handle these cell phones and they were ready to replace land line phones.  Voice and data could be transmitted via satellite, fiber optic and regular twisted-pair phone lines.

Japan and Germany had innovated ahead of the US in offering fuel-efficient cars, but now the US was changing all of its processes to increase production volume.

By 2000, US companies was off-shoring manufacturing to keep their product costs low.  The heady days of high exports had ended. US electronics companies were sending their board manufacturing to China to cut their costs in half.

The US now has job-killing regulations and has kept its corporate tax rate at 35%. The US federal government is closing its coal plants and increasing the cost of energy. The cost of government, healthcare and education in the US is too high and not worth the cost.  Obama has ruined the US economy and a continuation of his policies would certainly turn the US into a third-world country. US companies will not return manufacturing to the US unless they get a 15% corporate tax rate and an end to the war on coal at a minimum.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader