Quote:
Originally Posted by templarklimek
Yup, i must be a real jerk to want a company to create good paying jobs in the country in which they sell that product to. WE need to produce things. Otherwise in a service economy well sell each other a cup of coffee and a hamburger and can't afford a 60K plus car. Has white guilt/anti-west become so maintream that we can't even look after own own counties best interest? YES I want those good jobs here, YES I'm looking after my own interest. Just like the guy from Mexico on here. He wants those jobs for his people.
I provide 35 combat vets good paying jobs. Why not replace them with cheap foriegn labor and an extra 250K in my pocket. Henry Ford said it best.
Provide the best possible wage so his people could afford to buy his cars. BMW is a for profit business, so I respect their right to do as they please. Having said that this will impact my car buying decision. I canceled an order for a TTRS for same reason. Audi building cars for N. American market in mexico instead of here.
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Templar, I understand your position here. However, trade is not a zero sum game. Mexico has gradually been building up a comparative advantage in car building. It is not only the wages (which have been rising) but also regulations (free trade agreements with more countries than anyone else in the world) and the training and clustering benefits that come with the rise in our car manufacturing capability.
No country can build inside it everything that it consumes. That would automatically make that country extremely poor as it uses a lot more resources than other more competitive places to get the same result. Research the statistics and you will find that the U.S. exports billions of dollars in many things to Mexico. Our trade is quite balanced compared to what happens between for example the U.S. and China.
Your position is akin to us trying to "build our own software" and shutting out Microsoft, Oracle, etc. Specialization among countries just as within organizations in the end makes everyone richer.
Finally, BMW is increasing U.S. production at the same time. Spartanburg has and for the foreseeable future will have a lot more production capacity than this hypothetical mexican plant. And U.S. based suppliers would benefit from this plant compared to the current situation (all 3 series built in Germany and South Africa).
With all due respect, if what you care for are U.S. jobs, your position is untenable. This BMW announcement would be a net gain for U.S. jobs compared with the situation today.