"GRL" wrote in message
Now maybe I'm wrong when I think that Bench Dog router tables are made in
U.S.A. and that the only reason that there is this sort of shipping delay
is
because of inept management at their company, but I do think that and I
think it's a metaphor for the way a lot of American companies are run.

You may be right, but they may have just taken off recently. I'm in the
process of buying some equipment and the lead times are way out because of a
sudden surge in sales of the suppliers. This is industrial stuff like
wrapping machines, fork lift truck, boiler accessories.

OTOH, I also bought some tooling. US price $15,000 and 8 weeks lead time
China price: $4500 and
22 days lead time.
This is for cast and machined aluminum molds. The China supplier has equal
or better quality than the half dozen US and European suppliers.

Where would you buy?

These are the scenarios we face on a regular basis.

1) Buy American. We are paying for the tooling out of our income and even
though we are going to make $10,500 less profit, we keep some jobs in
America at a machine shop 2,000 miles away from us. .

2) Buy Chinese. We save the $10,000 to put towards out profit, or to
invest into more equipment to grow our business. It will pay for the new
lighting we want installed by a local company. It will put more money into
the hands of our employees so they can live better and buy more US made
goods. It will make us a stronger company if we invest in new equipment for
the future.

Given the above choices, want to play economist or pretend you are the
President?
Ed

http://pages.cthome.net/edhome