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I like how people complain about government regulations...but they also want government to force companies to make products in the US, hire americans, and micro manage companies
Hey Repubs/Trumpites...you can't have it both ways...
Free market and Free trade forever. Down with the fascists!
The Germans are good at high tech manufacturing. High value-added products that require very skilled labor. Workers must be educated and well-trained. This is a model that the US should emulate. Quit trying to bring back coal-mining jobs and the like.
Why dosent Germany export more here? My guess is that Americans are addicted to cheap Chinese crap and won't spend for quality. When it's probably less expensive to buy quality items than cheap crap every few years.
The vast majority of German export goods are capital goods (machinery, electrical engineering) also chemicals, pharmaceuticals and of course cars. With the exception of the cars very unlikely that the American consumer will encounter German made products, because they are mostly used in factories for producing goods. Germany doesn't produce or export a noteworthy amount of consumer goods. Most of such products available in Germany are also imported from China.
The other thing that may be of interest is the ownership of the German company's importing machinery to the states. Caterpillar bought a number of German Engine manufactures namely MAK and MWM both of which ship lots of equipment to the states Also Woodward (an Colorado based company) Bought Seimans a few years ago.
Again, to dispel the ignorance around trade and deficits, here are some numbers from the US Dept of State. I know a lot of you are math challenged so I have done the math for you at the bottom.
Germany->US Direct Investments = $255 billion
US->Germany Direct Investments = $108 billion
Difference - $147 billion advantage US
Total surplus for US = $72 billion dollars combined trade and direct investments flowing from Germany to the USA.
Here is a follow up question. If the US is such a despicable, terrible place to live and do business in, why is Germany investing $255 billion in it every year?????????????????????????????????????????????? ?
First your figures for direct investment is not a number for a specific year. It's the figure for the comulative foreign investment of Germany into the U.S. through 2015.
Second, you can't sum up these figures. The German trade surplus with the U.S. is already a capital export. The capital flows always in the same direction as the goods. Germany is the largest net capital exporter in the world.
The German trade surplus with the U.S. is neither an advantage nor a disadvantage for Germany. It's the same with direct investments. The investments will lead to a return of investment that flows back to Germany.
Of course the U.S. is not a despicable or terrible place for doing business.
The vast majority of German export goods are capital goods (machinery, electrical engineering) also chemicals, pharmaceuticals and of course cars. With the exception of the cars very unlikely that the American consumer will encounter German made products, because they are mostly used in factories for producing goods. Germany doesn't produce or export a noteworthy amount of consumer goods. Most of such products available in Germany are also imported from China.
My wife and I drive German cars, prepare our food with German steel, and drink German beer.
The Germans are good at high tech manufacturing. High value-added products that require very skilled labor. Workers must be educated and well-trained. This is a model that the US should emulate. Quit trying to bring back coal-mining jobs and the like.
Expertise in old fashioned mechanical, electrical and chemical engineering related industries is what the Germans excel at. I don't know of any German company that competes in the microprocessor space.
Also know that less than 30% of German children attend an academic high school called a gymnasium. The rest go to vocational or technical high schools or enter an apprenticeship program. Germany also produces lots of brown coal (lignite).
Germany->US Direct Investments = $255 billion
US->Germany Direct Investments = $108 billion
Difference - $147 billion advantage US
Total surplus for US = $72 billion dollars combined trade and direct investments flowing from Germany to the USA.
Here is a follow up question. If the US is such a despicable, terrible place to live and do business in, why is Germany investing $255 billion in it every year?????????????????????????????????????????????? ?
Just because Germany invests more in USA than USA in Germany does nto mean that all advantage is USA. This is German money that they will multiply and can take back home. Like if I buy a part of your home does not mean that you have become richer.
If we continue to import more than we export we will have huge trade deficit and have no money to invest anywhere, even in a rotten country like North Korea.
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