U.S. revives China clothing import quota
China Calls U.S. Move to Textile Limits Unfair, Urges Talks
I don't know if there are any easy answers in this situation. If Chinese textile goods are cheaper and/or better cause the market says so, should we err on the side of protecting U.S. jobs, or are we just slowing an inevitable decline?
I'd like to see some examples of American textile companies using lean to get more competitive, instead of relying on government intervention and trade restrictions. Any comments?
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Mark Graban is an internationally-recognized consultant, author, and professional speaker who has worked in healthcare, manufacturing, and startups. His latest book is Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More. He is author of the Shingo Award-winning books Lean Hospitals and Healthcare Kaizen, as well as The Executive Guide to Healthcare Kaizen. He also published the anthology Practicing Lean that benefits the Louise H. Batz Patient Safety Foundation, where Mark is a board member. Mark is also a Senior Advisor to the technology company KaiNexus.
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I just found your blog, and like it.
It seems that protecting U.S. jobs through tarrifs can’t work for long; the market will catch up.
A more comprehensive approach might work…protect jobs for a limited time while requiring companies to improve their processes to become more competitive, and providing some support for that improvement.
What form that support takes would be the key. Perhaps partly financial and partly an information clearinghouse, or creating a network between companies that have already made the move to lean and those that need to.
I don’t like the idea of government handouts or protection…. but if they are going to happen, I absolutely agree they should be tied to driving improvements in the protected companies. We can’t afford, in the long term, to protect inefficient companies or industries.