In many cases, although the manufacturers claim that labor costs are lower in other countries, there is another reason for sending manufacturing out of the country.

On one large airplane with which I had personal contact, the US manufacturer was told, by at least three separate countries: "You will not be allowed to sell your airplane in our country or to any company with factories in our country, unless we get to build significant parts of it."

The result was that about 70% of the airplane was "made in other countries" despite our ability to build most of the parts that were foreign-made more cheaply here.

In several cases that were "costed" in detail, our labor rates were more expensive, but we could use a lot less labor to produce the same part, resulting in approximately equal cost, or sometimes less expensive part costs if made here. There were very few items that were actually less expensive when manufactured by the foreign plants - even after they underbid their actual costs of production in order to maintain the fiction that they were doing it cheaper.

The parts in this case weren't "sweatshop socks and shirts," where it's hard to be more efficient by enough to offset a really low labor pay scale; but lower procurement costs definitely are not the only - or often not the real - reason for going foreign.

John