Why cant any thing be built in U.SA at a reasonable price. I guess I know the answer before I ask. I have a Brunner air compressor that was purchased in 1960, 80 gal tank. This compressor has run every day of most of its life. In 1976 had a bad snow storm and blew out a window of my shop and temp dropped below 0 and elec motor burnt up trying to start up. Had it rewound for $100. I have another compressor unit (Quincey) dated 1962. I bought it a salvage sale some time ago and it too looked like it had run for years. Changed the oil, started it up. It knocked, I called Quincey dealer, to get a price on a compressor. He said "awh, just take the head off and clean the old carbon off from the old oil that has never been changed." Took the top of head off and sure enough coated with carbon, cleaned it and works great. I had purchased a Emgloo compressor only, at a garage sale for $100. for spare compressor. It has sit for a long time. Now have a need for another compressor in another bulding. Found a new 80 gal tank on Craigs list for $150. Thought I would just build it up, as a 80 gal Cambellhausfield or IR at TSC sells for over $1000. I went to pick up the tank and the fellow had a whold barn full of "junk" IR and Cambellhaussfields. He said they will probably last only at the most 10 years and only maybe 5 if used hard. He said every thing is made in China. He said one like the ones I had would cost $3000. now if made in America. I figured I could take my Emgloo compressor and buy a tank ($150+$100) some fittings, gauge, switch and find a 5 or 7 hp motor for $200 and have a good compressor for $500 or so. He just laughed and said a good elec motor will run you $700 or 8. He took me in another room and showed me all the compressors with bad elec motors and said it cost almost as much for a elec. motor as he can buy the whole compressor for. I guess if I wasnt 70 years old a good compressor that cost $3000 would be a bargin if it lasted 50 years like these have. I hate the tampon and kotex items that comes our of China. But I dont want to mortage my house to buy a American product. I know they have no unions, regulations, pensions, health care, unemmployment, etc. (and we wont either if we dont get a handle on this some way)
Easy tax the crap out of their junk! You think they worry about polluting the earth? Do we want to live like over 99% of them do?
It is easy to point at the unions and blame their extreme benefits, etc.. but alot of the problem comes from the tariff system involved in international trade. We allow others to sell items here with little or no tax charged, but our exports are taxed heavily before allowed into other countries. When the digital TV switch came about I went to a MURF center and they had hundreds of old TV sets, but they were being shipped to China to be recycled because it was cheaper to do that then send the usable items back than it was to deal with all of the out of control EPA "green" regs. as well as the need for comprehensive benefit and compensation packages for the northern facilities, but even in the south alot of the work would not be done without an inflated salary. Let's face it some jobs are $12.00 per hour jobs and others are $22.00 per hour jobs. True capitalism works well and resulted in the quality items you have from the past, big labor and imports have corrupted our capitalist system amd resulted in our current problems of low quality, high unemployment, etc..