Manufacturers Reshore Amidst COVID-19
According to ThomasNet: Manufacturers are looking for solutions closer to home following the trade disruption that resulted from COVID-19
The industrial sourcing platform Thomasnet, which is trusted by millions of industrial buyers in North America recently published an insight revealing critical information about a surge in “reshoring” amongst manufacturers in 2020.
Reshoring is the practice of transferring a business operation that was moved overseas back to the country from which it was originally located. Reshoring is also known as onshoring, inshoring, or backshoring. Up until 2020, manufacturers relied heavily on overseas manufacturing because of the lower labor costs. However, surging tariff rises and the outbreak of COVID-19 brought quite a change to this once cost-effective option.
Read the full report from Thomasnet below to gain more insight on this topic.
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Manufacturers Look for Solutions Closer to Home Following COVID-19
Once seen as the most practical option for the majority of businesses, manufacturing overseas is now falling out of favor for a number of reasons. Returning production to North America, however, cannot happen overnight, so manufacturers are finding creative ways to do business in the interim.
The Statistics Leading Up to the Current State of Manufacturing
The Trade War
Prior to the trade war, reshoring was seen as an unnecessary expenditure for many manufacturing companies. Companies enjoyed lower labor costs overseas, and importing from China, a country that controls ⅓ of the global manufacturing industry, was consistently the most cost-effective option.
The trade war, however, swiftly transformed this copacetic landscape ideal for producers. Tariffs were met with retaliatory tariffs. Suddenly, manufacturers were strapped with a bill, and the cost-effective option became increasingly expensive.
Surging tariff rises had the possibility to create disastrous consequences including, according to reports by The Port of Los Angeles, 1.47 million jobs and $186 billion in the nation’s economy. As prices for export rose, manufacturers worried the consumers might have to pay the price.
COVID-19 and Trade Disruption