Thread: Australian Made vs Off-Shore.

I work for a national retailer and I would say that 90+% of what we sell comes from China or other Asian countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Taiwan and Thailand. With our levels of health and safety, environmental protections (although some of that leave a bit to be desired), wage structures, and costs of essentials like water, power along with rates and taxes - we will never see a return to "Australian Made". As we have attained and come to enjoy higher levels of living standards over the years we can no longer compete unless we return to a protectionist philosophy (which won't happen) the playing field is no longer level. Everyone (governments) want Free Trade Agreements which will never work in our favour due to our diminishing levels of exports. I'd like to be wrong on this one.

Is a product really an export if it only goes to one country and that country owns the company that produce the product anyway?

Originally Posted by gromit

Made in the USA from local and imported components.......


Colin

There is a town in Japan called Usa

Originally Posted by ChookD2

........

Is a product really an export if it only goes to one country and that country owns the company that produce the product anyway?

If you think about it a bit, yes. Ownership of a company means that the owner gets the dividends in exchange for providing capital. Consider that the only part of the sale price for the product going to dividends is what is left after operating expenses. For most businesses, the proportion of the product that represents dividends is less than 10% of the sale price, probably on average much less. Of course, some (or a lot) of the "profit" that does not go in dividends goes into increasing the value of the company - which eventually means the company can be sold for more than was paid for it.

And where are the expenses going? Depending on the business, the major expenses are likely to be taxes and government fees, local, state, and federal, rent, wages and salaries, contractors, depreciation, borrowings. All except the last are spent locally, and depreciation represents money that needs to be put aside to replace equipment in the future. Depending on the business, typically a lot of this is spent locally.

Originally Posted by 1950landy

10% local 90% imported.

I think it has to have a higher percentage than that to allow them to use "made in the USA".

I remember about 30years ago in the UK that someone commented that a Volvo could have a "made in Britain" logo because the percentage of parts sourced from the UK was high enough at the time.
Probably an urban myth but it makes you think.....


Colin

An Urban myth, I'd say. VOLVOs don't have enough British parts in them.... Proof ? - they don't rain INside onto your feet !

'Made in Australia' is defined by several rules (see link below) which includes at least 50% of the total cost of production or manufacture occurring in Australia.

The requirements for an ‘Australian Made’ good or product to be considered fair dinkum

That Ozpig shown above is interesting as I know someone who manufactures custom smokers/cookers and charges about twice the $450 price quoted, although it varies depending on size and options. His use much thicker steel than in the cheap Chinese ones.

Chinese products don't have to be cheap and nasty, it can depend on the choices made by the importer.
Someone who was having cookware made in China told me the factory representative told him to choose the price he wanted to sell it for in Australia and then work backwards to calculate how much he was prepared to pay at the factory gate in China. The factory guy then produced an example of the quality of cookware which could be available at that amount. Higher or lower quality was available if the price was varied.
Ultimately, it comes down to what consumers are prepared to pay. That's why the same products can sell at significantly different prices in various countries.

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

Chinese products don't have to be cheap and nasty.

this is key.
there are many well made products that come from china.

take ipads for example. good build quality and made in china.

Originally Posted by superquag

An Urban myth, I'd say. VOLVOs don't have enough British parts in them.... Proof ? - they don't rain INside onto your feet !

Even in a light shower, my Land Cruiser 'tilly lets in more water down through the dash than the Titanic's bridge!