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On Wednesday, Boeing announced it would put a second 787 assembly line in Charleston, S.C., rather than Everett, WA.

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- China's manufacturing expanded for the eighth straight month in October and forward-looking indicators pointed to a further pick-up underway, according to a government index released Sunday.The data adds up to a picture of an economy that's on track for acceleration in the October-to-December period, marking the third-straight quarterly pick up. The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose to 55.2 in October from 54.3 in September, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said in a release. A gauge of export orders rose to 54.5 from 53.3, the sixth straight month of gains. General orders notched a similar...

Boeing's decision to build a new airplane-assembly plant in Charleston, S.C., will change the shape of the company and dramatically alter how both the state of Washington and the Machinists union approach Boeing. Washington state must accept a future where it competes for every new Boeing airplane program, with low-wage South Carolina as a certain rival. The Machinists must accept that if Boeing doesn't like their demands, it can direct future work to its nonunion Charleston plants. A defining moment could come about 2015, when Boeing will choose where to build the successor plane to either the Renton-built 737 or...

Doubts are growing about whether the Ford pact with the United Auto Workers will be approved after the rank and file at two more plants overwhelmingly rejected it. Workers at a parts-making plant in Saline, Mich., voted 75 percent against the deal. Research and engineering employees in Dearborn, Mich., were even more negative, with roughly 90 percent voting against the deal. Ford’s biggest assembly plant, at Claycomo, has already voted 92 percent against the concessions, which Ford says it needs to stay competitive. Chrysler and General Motors got the conessions from the UAW, but they were going through bankruptcy, which...

CHICAGO—Boeing Co. said it would build a second final assembly line for its troubled 787 Dreamliner jet in South Carolina, a move that spurns the powerful aircraft machinists' union that had been negotiating with Boeing to locate the work at the current factory near Seattle. Boeing has been laying the groundwork for a new factory in South Carolina for months and could begin construction at a facility it owns in North Charleston, S.C., as early as Nov. 2. The factory is expected to be operational by July 2011. Boeing's decision comes after a flurry of lobbying by officials in both...

Dow Jones)--Boeing Co. on Wednesday announced it would build a second final assembly line for its troubled 787 Dreamliner jet in South Carolina, a move that spurns the powerful aircraft machinists' union that had been negotiating with Boeing to locate the work at the current factory near Seattle. Boeing has been laying the groundwork for a new factory in South Carolina for months and could begin construction at a facility it owns in North Charleston, S.C., as early as Nov. 2. The factory is expected to be operational by July 2011.

Just announced KING5 news, waiting for link...

So Boeing is threatening to jilt us (again). To run out on our nine decades of marriage with someone smarter? Better? More reliable? Nope. With someone cheaper. Take away the heat, all the union-bashing or management second-guessing as Boeing now appears ready to move a major piece of its plane-building operations to South Carolina. At the core of this breakup drama is a cold statistic: 14. As in $14. Per hour. That's the average pay of the local line workers who are building the fuselage of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner in a Charleston, S.C., plant. Average pay of a Boeing Machinist...

This a from the Tennessean, the Pravda of the South. They don't like conservatives so you need to copy and paste the link. VW is opening a plant in Chattanooga and will be hiring 1,200 for production. They started taking applications on line today and have received over 5,000 and the application period runs through November 15th. http://www.tennessean.com/article/20091027/BUSINESS01/910270331/5+000+seek+VW+jobs+on+Day+1

As part of the Fiat - Chrysler alliance, the Italian carmaker will bring several new models in the United States but the 500 mini car will be the only one to be sold under the Fiat badge. The car is going to be produced by Chrysler in Mexico and, according to people close to the matter, the US-based former bankrupt automaker has already required suppliers to make sure that their parts are enough for around 100,000 Fiat 500. The Fiat 500 produced in Mexico will be sold in the US, Canada and South America, Bloomberg reported, with initial production goals...

It's hard to not be spellbound by the sight of half of a new house slowly swinging across the street and gently coming to rest on a precast concrete foundation. Raise the roof line, join the two sections, add a decorative facade, tidy up the entrance and it's almost ready for occupancy, right down to the sparkling bathroom mirrors and kitchen appliances. But would you want to live in a house that arrives on two flatbed trucks? Or would you feel your home sweet home is one front step away from living in a trailer? A California businessman with Chicago...

Container Trade in TEUs* 2009 Year-to-Date*TEUs: 20-foot equivalent units or 20-foot-long cargo container **Preliminary estimate   Loaded Inbound Loaded Outbound Empties Total Containers January 200,588 88,510 110,197 399,295 February 149,299 92,781 75,962 318,042 March 186,450 117,674 70,007 374,131 April 199,051 112,976 96,678 408,705 May 208,591 121,064 89,900 419,555 June 206,358 114,107 92,882 413,347 July 221,719 108,420 102,874 433,013 August 249,920 130,623 112,796 493,339 September 224,924 109,337 106,103 440,364 October November December Year-to-Date 1,846,900 995,492 857,399 3,699,791 YTD % Change -23.8% -26.3% -24.2% -24.6%

The 20th century was famously called “the American century”, yet its being so called occurred in an improbable way. The phrase itself was actually not used until Time publisher Henry Luce coined it in a special issue of Life magazine in 1941—by which time 40 percent of the 20th century had already passed. Moreover, 1941 was a year in which the superiority of America and of the American way of life appeared decidedly problematic. Only the year before had the United States finally exited, statistically speaking, the decade of the Great Depression. Nazi Germany’s armies occupied most of Europe, stretching...

DES MOINES, Iowa - Office furniture and fireplace insert manufacturer HNI Corp. said Friday it plans to close a Kentucky factory to reduce costs. The company said it notified workers and union officials of its decision to close the Owensboro, Ky., office furniture factory beginning in the fourth quarter. The work will be absorbed by other factories. The closure should be completed by the end of the second quarter 2010.

SPENCER, Iowa -- A Northwest Iowa plant that makes engine seals for the automotive industry is closing, costing 65 workers their jobs. Michigan-based Freudenberg-NOK announced Wednesday it would close its Spencer plant and distribution center over the next six months and transfer the work to two facilities in Ohio. A Freudenberg-NOK spokeswoman attributed the decision to the economic downturn, which reduced sales to the manufacturing industry. The firm was forced to reassess its operations, and consolidate its maufacturing facilities, which have been operating at reduced capacity, said Sarah O'Hare, the company's vice president of human resources and communications.

In just a month since its official launch, a new Web site MadeInUSA has signed up more than 350,000 U.S.-based companies looking to encourage consumers to "be American and buy American." Creators of the site hope to ensure that as many jobs as possible stay in the U.S. rather than be outsourced overseas. For 50 years now, Mountain and Sackett, a tie manufacturer with a plant in Long Island City, N.Y., has made ties mostly by hand. Some 50 employees, some who have been with the company for decades, stitch meticulously for 40 hours a week. They get health care...

Harley-Davidson USA today announced that they are discontinuing the Buell line of motorcycles. This news comes as Harley-Davidson reported a third quarter earnings that was down 21.3% from the same period in 2008. All remaining in-stock Buell motorcycles and accessories will be sold by authorized dealers, but no additional Buell motorcycles will be manufactured. Existing warranty coverage for Buell motorcycles will be honored and Harley-Davidson will continue to provide replacement parts and service through their dealerships. Over time, the discontinuing of the Buell line is expected to eliminate 80 hourly productions positions and approximately 100 salaried positions at Buell. According...

Whirlpool Corp.'s division in Mexico has announced it will build a $55 million plant in the northern city of Apodaca, employing 1,100 people. That number may sound familiar. The appliance maker announced in August it was shutting down its Evansville manufacturing line in mid-2010 and moving it to Mexico. Evansville's line employs 1,100 people. Jill Saletta, director of external relations for Whirlpool, confirmed in a statement Friday that the jobs being created in Apodaca are those from the Evansville plant. "As announced in August, the production of refrigerators currently made at Evansville, and the 1,110 jobs associated with that production,...

Dell plans to close its Winston-Salem, N.C. factory and lay off about 905 employees by January, the company has confirmed. The first 600 employees will be released next month, the Round Rock company said. The company said the closure is part of an effort directed at "simplifying operations and improving efficiency."

Dell plans to close its computer manufacturing plant in Winston-Salem by January, and lay off 905 employees. Dell opened the assembly plant in 2005 and was offered a massive incentives package valued at $305 million if it met hiring and investment goals. The project was seen as a major economic development victory by supporters and a huge waste of taxpayer money by critics. About 600 workers at the plant will be let go next month, Dell announced this afternoon. The rest will be out of work by early next year. The closure of the Forsyth County plant is part of...

BANGKOK, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Hundreds of striking workers forced U.S. auto maker General Motors Co [GM.UL] to shut its Thai assembly plant on Monday, company and union officials said, raising the stakes in a pay dispute with management. About 200 of 800 unionized workers at the plant in southeast Rayong province joined the strike, a GM spokeswoman said. The rest were asked to take paid holidays pending negotiations with union leaders, she added. But GM union leader Suriya Pochairuak put the number of striking workers at about 700. The GM plant, which has about 1,700 employees on its payroll,...

Now that the Senate has returned from its August recess, its members have many issues with which to contend. Although health care reform has received much of the attention in recent weeks, another bill, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (H.R. 2454) or more widely known as Waxman-Markey or “cap & trade,” is equally deserving of scrutiny. This is because most major economic impact studies demonstrate that the “cap & trade” scheme proposed in the Waxman-Markey bill will create massive consumer costs with undefined environmental benefits. In June, the Waxman-Markey bill narrowly passed the U.S. House 219-212...

The United States has been hollowed out. It no longer manufactures goods. Once the factory of the world, the U.S. now manufactures debt. The high wage manufacturing jobs have been out-sourced to low wage economies. The demise of U.S. manufacturing is at the core of the decline of America, its chronic trade deficits and growing international indebtedness. It makes the world’s savers reluctant to be exposed to the U.S. dollar.There is one problem with this widely held view: It is factually wrong.The value of U.S. manufacturing output in real terms (adjusted for inflation) was a little more than $3 trillion...

<p>NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Peterbilt Corp. permanently closed its truck plant in Nashville.</p>

The Treasury Department drove a hard bargain but likely won't recoup taxpayers' entire investments in General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC, said a report from a congressional panel overseeing government bailouts of the banking and auto sectors. The panel, though, commended the Treasury's efforts to function as a tough negotiator for structuring deals to save ailing auto makers. "They may have driven the best bargain they could, but it may not be enough," said Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard University law professor and the panel's chairwoman. The report cited remarks from Obama administration manufacturing adviser Ron Bloom, who previously ran...

Jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney says it will eliminate 1,000 jobs in Connecticut by 2011 as it transfers work to Georgia and Asia.

Explaining Two Trade Busts: Output VS. Trade Costs In The Great Depression And Today Douglas L. Campbell David Jacks Christopher M. Meissner Dennis Novy 19 September 2009 Trade has declined massively during the crisis. This column assesses the relative roles of falling demand and rising trade costs in explaining the collapse and compares it to the Great Depression. Surprising, the increase in trade costs today is as large as in 1929, despite the absence of any modern protectionism resembling Smoot-Hawley. It appears that reviving global demand alone will be insufficient to revive world trade. If the world economy is now...

As union workers at Mercury Marine fought over contract concessions meant to save hundreds of jobs in Wisconsin, the company's midlevel managers filed a lawsuit over unpaid bonuses. The class-action lawsuit, filed last month in federal court, argues that the Fond du Lac-based outboard-engine maker failed to pay $7 million in bonuses to roughly 100 managers. According to the suit, senior Mercury executives instructed lower level managers in April 2008 to implement a cost-savings program and assured managers that they would receive 10% of whatever savings they managed to achieve as an incentive. The suit names Brunswick Corp., Mercury's parent...

Earlier today, Doug Bandow weighed in with some commentary on the problems that Buy American provisions are creating for both Canadian and American businesses. Let me reinforce his view that such rules are anachronistic and self-defeating with some thoughts from a forthcoming paper of mine about the incongruity between modern commercial reality and trade policies that have failed to keep pace. Even though President Obama implored, “If you are considering buying a car, I hope it will be an American car,” it is nearly impossible to determine objectively what makes an American car. The auto industry provides a famous example,...

Trade: President Obama has fired the opening salvo in a trade war with China by slapping 35% tariffs on its tires. But besides giving China a kick, this protectionism will harm Americans across the economy.Sec. 421 of the 1974 Trade Act, intended to control surges in imports. But the markets paid attention. Global stock futures tumbled over the weekend. Asian markets dropped sharply Monday, fearing a wave of U.S. protectionism. China called the U.S. move "rampant protectionism" and vowed to investigate dumping charges against U.S. auto parts and chicken, two industries that have made inroads into the China market. The...

A full-blown trade row erupted between the US and China after Beijing accused Washington of “rampant protectionism” for imposing heavy duties on imported Chinese tyres and threatened action against imports of US poultry and vehicles. Trade relations between two of the world’s biggest economies deteriorated after Barack Obama, US president, signed an order late on Friday to impose a new duty of 35 per cent on Chinese tyre imports on top of an existing 4 per cent tariff. In his first big test on world trade since taking office in January, Mr Obama sided with America’s trade unions, which have...

Boeing Co. workers in North Charleston voted overwhelmingly to disband their union in a move that could give the region an edge in landing an aircraft plant the company is looking to build. Of the 267 ballots cast, 199 were in favor of decertifying the election that made them members of the International Association of Machinists. The company was pleased; the union was disappointed. The local plant makes rear fuselage sections for Boeing's 787, a new fast-selling lightweight jet that has been delayed by snags with suppliers and an eight-week strike last year by the IAM. Boeing has said it...

> Yet Fiesta's enduring popularity and strong sales even as consumers cut back are helping to keep struggling Homer Laughlin China Co. afloat. It's the last major dinnerware producer that makes its products in the U.S., as competitors have shut down or moved offshore. >

The White House leaked word late Friday evening that the U.S. will impose a 35% tariff on imported Chinese tires used by millions of low-income Americans. We wonder if President Obama understands the political forces he's unleashing with this blatant protectionism. Mr. Obama is setting a precedent in the tire case because he is applying a previously unused part of the trade law known as Section 421. This allows U.S. industries or unions to seek protection from "surges" of Chinese imports, with a lower burden of proof than normal antidumping or countervailing duty cases. President Bush nixed the four Section...

DETROIT - Toyota's decision to close its 25-year-old California factory where UAW workers build Corolla cars and Tacoma pickups has delivered a seismic, Detroit-like jolt to the once-invincible Silicon Valley economy. The Japanese automaker's first plant closing in North America will add to California's swelling unemployment rolls, and perhaps, help the Golden State better empathize with the industry that it has persistently challenged with regulatory requirements. The closure also will eliminate Toyota's only UAW-represented workforce. ;California has now lost 580,000 manufacturing jobs - a quarter of its total - since 2001. NUMMI's closure next March could erase about 40,000 more....

Workers at Boeing's 787 fuselage assembly plant in Charleston, S.C. have decisively voted to get rid of the Machinists union as their bargaining representative with the company. The vote was 199 for decertification of the International Association of Machinists (IAM) union against 68 for retaining it. The vote means that Boeing Charleston becomes a non-union plant. It will compete with Boeing Everett, an IAM stronghold, to be the site of a second 787 Dreamliner assembly line. A decision on that site selection is expected by year end. Boeing spokesman Tim Healy said the company is pleased with the outcome. "Boeing...

Deere & Co. (DE) will put 367 employees on indefinite layoff at its East Moline, Ill., factory later this month due to reduced demand. The world's largest maker of farm equipment has been shedding jobs at several of its factories by a few hundred employees at a time throughout the year because of the demand slump. Still, the figures have been relatively small, as Deere has over 50,000 employees.

General Motors was not so long ago the largest motor company in the world, who would have thought one day would be taken over by the miniature Japanese autos. This documentary struggles to answer this very question.

President Obama on Monday announced his selection of Ron Bloom as senior counselor for manufacturing policy. Speaking at an AFL-CIO picnic in Cincinnati, the president introduced Bloom, who has been a senior adviser to Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner as part of the auto industry task force since February. Bloom, a Harvard Business School graduate, previously advised the United Steelworkers union and worked as an investment banker. "As my new point person on manufacturing, he's going to help us craft the policies that will create the next generation of great manufacturing jobs and ensure American competitiveness in the 21st century,"...

President Obama's announcement of his selection of Ron Bloom as "manufacturing czar" follows the weekend resignation of Van Jones, the White House "green jobs czar" who had come under fire in recent weeks for past inflammatory statements. As one White House "czar" departs amid a cloud of controversy, an undeterred President Obama is naming a new one to advise him on manufacturing, defying conservative critics who have raised concerns about these advisory positions that do not require congressional oversight. Obama chose a Labor Day union picnic on Monday as the backdrop to announce his selection of Ron Bloom, a member...

President Barack Obama is tapping a member of his auto industry task force to advise him on manufacturing. Obama chose a Labor Day union picnic on Monday as the backdrop to announce his selection of Ron Bloom as senior counselor for manufacturing policy. Bloom planned to travel to Cincinnati with Obama for an afternoon announcement at the AFL-CIO event.

President Barack Obama is addressing one of his key constituencies — organized labor — on Monday as union members gather to celebrate the holiday named for their movement. As Obama prepares for a critical speech Wednesday to Congress and the nation about his efforts to overhaul health care, a supportive audience at the AFL-CIO’s annual Labor Day picnic in Cincinnati should provide welcome relief from the highly charged partisan atmosphere surrounding the issue. Besides addressing health care, Obama will tell the assembled union members he has named Ron Bloom as senior counselor for manufacturing policy. Bloom has served since February...

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - General Motors said on Sunday it has agreed to set up a light commercial vehicle production venture with major Chinese automaker FAW Group, with total investment of 2 billion yuan ($293 million).

GM to form China venture, invest $293 million Partnership with FAW Group will produce light-duty trucks and vans Aug 30, 2009 SHANGHAI - General Motors said on Sunday it has agreed to set up a light commercial vehicle production venture with major Chinese automaker FAW Group, with total investment of $293 million. The 50-50 joint venture, based in the northeast China city of Changchun in Jilin province, will make light-duty trucks and vans, GM said in a statement. "For us in China, this is an important complement to the rest of our portfolio," Kevin Wale, president and managing director for...

General Motors has signed up to a 2bn yuan ($293m; £180m) joint venture with the Chinese state-owned carmaker FAW to make light trucks and vans. The vehicles will initially be sold in China under the FAW brand, but could in future be exported under the GM brand. They will be produced at existing FAW facilities in the cities of Changchun and Harbin. GM sold 818,442 vehicles in China in the first six months of 2009, compared with 1,094,561 in the whole of 2008. Demand was particularly strong for its minivans and other small vehicles. "For us in China, this...

Reporting from Los Angeles and Fremont, Calif. - Toyota Motor Corp.'s decision to abandon its assembly line in Fremont marks the end of large-scale auto manufacturing in California, which over the years boasted a dozen or more plants building vehicles ranging from Studebakers to Camaro muscle cars. The Japanese automaker said Thursday that it would end production at the plant March 31, throwing 4,700 people out of work, and return some production to Japan. It's another hard blow for California, a state already grappling with an 11.9% unemployment rate -- its highest since World War II and the fourth-worst in...

WINCHESTER, VA--“Government did us in,” says Dwayne Madigan, whose job will terminate when General Electric closes its factory next July. Madigan makes a product that will soon be illegal to sell in the U.S. - a regular incandescent bulb. Two years ago, his employer, GE, lobbied in favor of the law that will outlaw the bulbs. Madigan’s colleagues, waiting for their evening shift to begin, all know that GE is replacing the incandescents for now with compact fluorescents bulbs, which GE manufactures in China. Last month, GE announced it will close the Winchester Bulb Plant 80 miles west of D.C....

Toyota said today it plans to shut down the NUMMI plant because of high labor costs, associated with California’s high cost of living, and not because the UAW represents workers at the plant. “The UAW presence does not have a direct impact on the decision,” Executive Vice President Atsushi Niimi said in conference call today. “California is a high-cost location,” Niimi said.

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., seeking to dodge costly import duties on its pioneering India-made pickups, may buy an existing U.S. plant to build them. Pravin Shah, Mahindra's executive vice president of international operations, told reporters today in New Delhi that such a purchase would be Mahindra's most economically feasible path. "We are exploring various options," he said. The comments signal a change in Mahindra's U.S. strategy. In May, senior company officials said they would most likely avoid the 25 percent "chicken tax" on imported pickups by having a third-party manufacturer assemble the trucks here from knock-down kits. Mahindra, which already...

TACOMA PRODUCTION MOVES TO SA TOYOTA PLANT It will mean 1,000 new Toyota jobs. By Jim Forsyth Thursday, August 27, 2009 Toyota Motor Manufacturing of Texas announced Thursday night that Toyota is relocating its Tacoma mid sized pickup truck production form Fremont California to San Antonio, and is expected to make a $100 million investment in the plant on the city's south side, 1200 WOAI news reports. "Here in Texas, the addition of the Tacoma to the Tundra production line will better utilize our plant's capacity and the 21 supplier facilities on our site," TMMTX President Kenji Fukuta said. "This...