American manufacturing remains about 20% of global production year after year.
China has about doubled in the last 15 years.
Japan is in moderate decline.
US manufacturing employment is definitely dropping.
The stuff we still make is just not stuff you see at Targ-Mart.
Stuff like machine tools, turbines, locomotives, bulldozers,
radio towers, big rig trucks, big expensive stuff. But lots of the raw materials
come from elsewhere.
I was in the bicycle business for several years, the bike mfg. moved to Japan.
then Taiwan, then China, all had teething pains, then they got really good.
The 80's Japanese upper end racing bikes are pretty highly sought after now.
Even good old Schwinn went to Japan for "10 speeds" and at first they were OK
but nothing special. Tough to find any Japanese made bike now. Or US made bikes
unless you go pretty high end.
Dave
https://www.uschina.org/public/docum...ufacturing.pdf