Article at a glance:
Offshore manufacturing in low-cost countries will soon increase sharply as companies there develop capacity in industries previously unaffected by it. Skill-intensive US sectors such as pharmaceuticals and auto parts haven't shifted production overseas so far but are likely to feel the brunt of this next wave of outsourcing.
The take-away
By 2015, manufacturing imports from developing countries to the United States could increase to more than 50 percent of total US manufacturing imports, up from 42 percent in 2002—a shift worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
This article includes the following exhibits:
- Exhibit 1: Imports from low-cost countries and prospects for offshoring production to them in the future
- Exhibit 2: US manufacturing imports from low-cost countries
- Exhibit 3: Projected US imports from low-cost countries in 2nd-wave skill-intensive sectors
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