U.S. Manufacturers Move Factories Back to U.S.

May 21st, 2012

U.S. manufacturers are moving factories back to the U.S.:

Two-thirds of big US manufacturers have moved factories in the past two years, with the most popular destination being the US, according to a survey being released on Monday by Accenture, the consultants.

The report provides some of the first industry-wide empirical evidence of “reshoring,” the trend of jobs once outsourced to low-cost emerging economies being brought back to the US.

As labor costs decline as a percentage of total costs, gains from manufacturing in low-cost countries erodes. Those surveyed cited speed of fulfilling orders as one of the top reasons for moving factories back to the U.S.

China, of course, still has other advantages besides cost, but its manufacturing dominance will decline as it loses its low-cost advantage and as labor costs decline in importance.