Manufacturing & Technology News articles from July 2003

Manufacturing & Technology News archives from July 2003

Electronics trade deficit skyrockets, but there is no need to panic, says AEA president Archey.(American Electronics Association's William Archey)
July 3, 2003... The U.S technology industry's once bountiful booty of exports has dried up, and it did so with astonishing speed, reports the American Electronics Association. High-tech exports declined 26 percent between 2000 and 2002, from $223 billion down...

U.S. furniture industry is rocked by Chinese imports.
July 3, 2003... "The United States furniture industry is in trouble," begins a report from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School. "Lower cost structures, improved quality and efficient-distribution from overseas...

Companies reduce toxic emissions by 15.5 percent.(Toxic Release Inventory)(Brief Article)
July 3, 2003... U.S. industry is substantially reducing its emissions of toxic chemicals into the environment, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Total releases of chemicals decreased 15.5 percent or by 1.05 billion pounds from 2000 to 2001, as...

Congressional Task Force to develop manufacturing agenda.(Brief Article)
July 3, 2003... The congressional Manufacturing Task Force is investigating a policy response to counter the lingering recession faced by the manufacturing sector. The House and Senate manufacturing coalitions will hold a meeting in Pittsburgh on July 14 at...

Northrop Grumman boss worries about 'imminent' ballistic missile attack.
July 3, 2003... The CEO of the second largest defense contractor says it is imperative for the country to start deploying a missile defense system. "The threat of ballistic missile attack against the United States has multiplied at an alarming rate," says...

Foreign defense companies reap hefty financial returns from joint strike fighter.
July 3, 2003... The acquisition strategy that involves foreign nations in the design and construction of the Pentagon's Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is a great success, says the Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Industrial Policy. The strategy...

Foreigners pull back U.S. investments.(Brief Article)
July 3, 2003... Foreign direct investment into the United States dropped by 77 percent last year to $30 billion, a "puny" amount compared to historical standards, says the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). "This reduced the United...

Wall Street analyst worries about the fate of GM, Ford or Chrysler.(Brief Article)
July 3, 2003... Ford or GM could go bankrupt or Chrysler sold off by Daimler within a decade due to increasing competition, health care costs and pension liabilities, says Saul Rubin, a financial analyst with UBS Warburg. "Industry trends will result in a...

Congress hears testimony on possible large-scale loss of white-collar jobs.
July 3, 2003... Millions of white-collar service sector positions could be lost to highly skilled overseas workers doing the same jobs for a lot less money, witnesses told the House Small Business Committee on June 18. Industry representatives said they fear a...

U.S. food industry begins to feel the sting of Chinese imports.
July 3, 2003... China's 800 million farmers have the United States specialty agriculture industry running scared. "Food production is moving offshore," says Peter Barton, chairman of the Hudson Valley Fruit Growers Task Force. "That is the large issue that we...

Biggest export out of Los Angeles is waste paper.
July 3, 2003... The largest U.S. export from the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports last year as measured in cargo space was waste paper, according to the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC). Of the 15 largest exporters based in Los Angeles,...

MIT professor says China has assembled all ingredients necessary for economic success.
July 3, 2003... The growth of manufacturing in China and India represents "a ticking time bomb" for the United States economy, says Tom Eager, professor of engineering systems at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The constraints that have limited...

New reports, analyses, studies, research & assessments.(Directory)
July 3, 2003... Brownfields: State of the States describes how each state is dealing with industrial site cleanup funding and projects. It is published by the Northeast Midwest Coalition and is located at http://www.nemw.org/brownstateof.pdf. The Dynamics...

'Buy American' stirs up heated debate about health of manufacturing sector.
July 18, 2003... An enhanced "Buy American" provision contained within the House Defense Authorization Bill (HR-1588) has stirred up a controversy in Washington policy circles in recent weeks over the health of the U.S. industrial base and what to do about it....

Trade functions could receive new resources to protect industrial interests.
July 18, 2003... The growing trade deficit, particularly with China, has spurred the House Appropriations Committee to propose an overhaul of the trade functions of the federal government. The Commerce-Justice-State spending bill passed by the committee...

Eveready Battery seeks federal order against competitors.
July 18, 2003... Eveready Battery Co. of St. Louis, Mo., has convinced the International Trade Commission (ITC) to initiate an investigation into whether the company's patents for zero-mercury alkaline batteries are being violated by more than a dozen companies...

Taiwan prepares to launch second satellite.(Brief Article)
July 18, 2003... Taiwan is building its own satellite industry due to concerns about the cost of U.S.-produced satellites and problems with export control laws, according to Wu An-Ming, manager of Taiwan's National Space Program Office. "Every country wants to...

Congress expresses little budgetary enthusiasm for commerce; lots for defense and justice.
July 18, 2003... Congress is busy determining priorities for the federal government for the 2004 fiscal year. The House Appropriations Committee has approved $369 billion for the Department of Defense next year, $4.3 billion more than the current fiscal...

Growth of defense business bodes well for contract manufacturers.
July 18, 2003... Manufacturing outsourcing to contract manufacturers in the aerospace and defense electronics industry is a growing business, reports Technology Forecasters Inc. Contract manufacturing will grow from $4 billion in 2001 to $7.7 billion in 2006,...

Machine tool sales continue to plummet.
July 18, 2003... The U.S. machine tool industry is not experiencing anything resembling an economic recovery Through May of this year, machine tool consumption, at $698 million, is down 24.4 percent from the same depressed period last year. "America's...

DOD's industrial policy chief provides a display of intransigence on hill.
July 18, 2003... Suzanne Patrick, in charge at the Department of Defense for assessing the health of the nation's defense industrial base, paid a most querulous visit to Capitol Hill on July 10. The Undersecretary of Defense for Industrial Policy was in no mood...

Suzanne Patrick spent a decade working with foreign defense firms.
July 18, 2003... Suzanne Patrick, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Industrial Policy, is responsible for approving all defense mergers and acquisitions and assessing and making recommendations to improve the health of the U.S. industrial base. She says the...

Congress to consider restricting executive visas.
July 18, 2003... Companies will have a harder time transferring foreign workers to their U.S. operations if Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) is able to persuade Congress to pass legislation restricting the number of L-1 visas issued every year. DeLauro says...

Could consumer spending be hurting economic growth prospects, rather than helpings? (Analysis).
July 18, 2003... Structural changes that have taken place in the U.S. industrial sector over the past three years might now have upset the economic assumptions underpinning the U.S. economy. Consumer spending has been a foundation of economic growth, widely...

Top 100 Foreign Importers Via Ocean Container Transport.
July 18, 2003... Top 100 Foreign Importers Via Ocean Container Transport (As measured in 20-foot equivalent container units or TEUs) 1. Wal-Mart Stores (retail), 291,900 2. The Home Depot (retail), 182,000 3. Target Corp. (retail), 173,100 4....

Top 100 Foriegn Exporters Via Ocean Container Transport.
July 18, 2003... Top 100 Foreign Exporters Via Ocean Container Transport (As measured in 20-foot-equivalent container units or TEUs) 1. American Chung Nam (wastepaper), 156,500 2. DuPont (chemicals), 104,000 3. Weyerhaeuser (forest...

Mexican textile industry asks USTR to curtail Chinese imports into U.S.
July 18, 2003... The Mexican textile and apparel industry is beginning to fret about China's growing share of the U.S. market. Comara Nacional de la Industria Textil (CANAINTEX), the trade association representing Mexican manufacturers of textiles, has asked...

Notebooks & LCDs overtake PCs & CRTs.(Brief Article)
July 18, 2003... For the first time ever, the dollar sales of notebook computers surpassed the dollar sales of desktop computers in May of this year, reports the NPD Group. May also marked the first month in history that LCD monitors generated more unit sales...