Us Manufacturing In International Perspective

Author : Congressional Service
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781986397766
Total Pages : 24 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (977 download)

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Download or read book U. S. Manufacturing in International Perspective written by Congressional Service and published by . This book was released on 2018-03-10 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The health of the U.S. manufacturing sector has long been of great concern to Congress. The decline in manufacturing employment since the start of the 21st century has stimulated particular congressional interest, leading Members to introduce hundreds of bills over many sessions of Congress intended to support domestic manufacturing activity in various ways. The proponents of such measures frequently contend that the United States is by various measures falling behind other countries in manufacturing, and they argue that this relative decline can be mitigated or reversed by government policy.This report is designed to inform the debate over the health of U.S. manufacturing through a series of charts and tables that depict the position of the United States relative to other countries according to various metrics. Understanding which trends in manufacturing reflect factors that may be unique to the United States and which are related to broader changes in technology or consumer preferences may be helpful in formulating policies intended to aid firms or workers engaged in manufacturing activity. This report does not describe or discuss specific policy options.The main findings are the following:The United States' share of global manufacturing activity declined from 28% in 2002, following the end of a U.S. recession, to 16.5% in 2011. By 2016, the U.S. share rose to over 18%, the largest share since 2009. These estimates are based on the value of each country's manufacturing in U.S. dollars; part of the decline in the U.S. share was due to a 23% decline in the value of the dollar between 2002 and 2011, and part of the subsequent rise is attributable to a stronger dollar.China displaced the United States as the largest manufacturing country in 2010. Again, part of China's rise by this measure has been due to the appreciation of its currency, the renminbi, against the U.S. dollar. The reported size of China's manufacturing sector decreased in 2015 and 2016 due to currency adjustments.Manufacturing output, measured in each country's local currency adjusted for inflation, has been growing more slowly in the United States than in China, South Korea, Germany, and Mexico, but more rapidly than in many European countries and Canada.Employment in manufacturing has fallen in most major manufacturing countries over the past quarter-century. In the United States, manufacturing employment since 1990 has declined in line with the changes in Western Europe and Japan, although the timing of the decline has differed from country to country.U.S. manufacturers' spending for research and development (R&D) rose 10.5% from 2010 to 2015, adjusted for inflation. Manufacturers' R&D spending rose more rapidly in several other countries.Manufacturers in many countries have increased spending on R&D, relative to value added in the manufacturing sector, but U.S. manufacturers' R&D intensity has changed little since 2008. A large proportion of U.S. manufacturers' R&D takes place in high-technology sectors such as pharmaceutical, electronics, and aircraft manufacturing, whereas in most other countries the largest share of R&D occurs in medium-technology sectors such as automotive and machinery manufacturing.