Note the paragraph below highlighted in yellow.  Kind of ironic that the dock strike needs to be averted as not to harm the U.S. economy.  How about just supporting the U.S. furniture manufacturers!

Shippers plan for possible East Coast dock strike

Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, September 4, 2012

HIGH POINT — Furniture retailers and manufacturers began preparing for supply chain disruptions last week after contract talks between East Coast port operators and unionized dockworkers suddenly collapsed.

The negotiations breakdown, which was ongoing as of this morning, means a strike by dockworkers at 14 U.S. ports is a distinct possibility once the current contract expires on Sept. 30. However, the three- to four-week transit time for goods shipped from the Pacific Rim means importers must decide almost immediately if they need to redirect their containers to West Coast ports.

"The situation seems to have just blown up," said Robert Buford, logistics manager for Home Meridian. "Our hope is that they will find a way to resolve things quickly."

Buford and other logistics executives said containers leaving Asia within the next two weeks may have to be redirected to West Coast ports, whose dockworkers belong to a different union and aren't covered by the same contract as those on the East Coast and Gulf Coast.

Containers landing on the West Coast would have to be moved by rail if their final destination is in the eastern United States, a process that can add $1,500 to $2,500 to the cost of every container.

"Then, there's the possibility that West Coast ports will become gridlocked," said Scott Prillaman, director of transportation and logistics at Hooker Furniture. "We're continuing to follow this real closely."

Prillaman said his company has been planning for a possible work stoppage since spring by slowly building up its inventory. He said Hooker has no current plans to redirect containers to West Coast ports because of the high costs of rail transport, but might have to reevaluate that stance if a strike were to last more than a couple of weeks.

"Even a work stoppage of one or two days can cause weeks of disruption," he said.

Barry Bailey, director of transportation at Bernhardt Furniture, agreed, noting that furniture logistics executives are in a classic "no-win" situation.

"You have a choice between more transit time, if there is a work stoppage, or more transportation costs, if you use the West Coast," Bailey said. "And if the West Coast ports become congested, you could face more transit time and higher costs."

If a strike occurs, Bailey and other executives said there's a good chance the Obama administration would order longshoremen back to work under provisions of the Taft-Hartley Act, which gives the president the authority to end strikes and lockouts by declaring a national emergency.

President George W. Bush invoked Taft-Hartley in 2002 to end a lockout of West Coast dockworkers.

Until mid-August, a strike by East Coast and Gulf Coast dockworkers seemed unlikely as talks between the United States Maritime Alliance and the International Longshoreman's Assn. appeared to be going smoothly. During the spring and summer, the two groups issued several joint statements touting the progress they were making and noted they had successfully negotiated contracts without a work stoppage since 1977.

The two sides met again on Aug. 22 for what was supposed to be three days of talks, but the negotiations suddenly collapsed early on the first day, with each side blaming the other for being uncompromising.

The Maritime Alliance, which goes by the acronym USMX, claims the union is unwilling to get rid of antiquated work rules that make the ports uncompetitive, while the union says the wage proposal made by USMX, which is made up of port operators and shipping companies, is inadequate.

About 14,500 workers at 14 ports are covered by the expiring contract. The USMX says ILA members receive an average of $124,138 a year in wages and benefits, and pay no premiums and minimal deductibles and co-payments for health insurance.

As of late last week, no new talks were scheduled, and the National Retail Federation sent both sides a letter urging them to return to the bargaining table.

"We are facing a critical time," said Matthew Shay, the federation's president and CEO. "Now that there is a real risk of disruption, most retailers using East Coast and Gulf Coast ports will be forced to execute contingency plans within the next week to meet in-store holiday deadlines."

"We understand and recognize that there are tough issues that need to be resolved," Shay added. "The issue will only be resolved, however, by agreeing to stay at the negotiating table until a final deal is reached. Failure to reach agreement will lead to supply chain disruptions which could seriously harm the U.S. economy."

The two sides are hoping to agree on a new six-year contract.

Ports that would be affected by a work stoppage are Boston, New York/New Jersey, Delaware River, Baltimore, Norfolk, Va., Wilmington, N.C., Charleston, S.C., Savannah, Ga., Jacksonville, Miami and Tampa, Fla., Mobile, Ala., New Orleans and Houston.

The largest of those facilities in the Port of New York/New Jersey, which employs 3,327 unionized longshoremen.

West Coast dockworkers are represented by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, whose contract doesn't expire until 2014.

To the following article you can add... All of the furniture sold at Furnishing's Direct!

13 Iconic Brands Still Made in America

By David Mielach, BusinessNewsDaily Staff Writer | LiveScience.com  

"Made in America" is making a comeback. Every time you turn around, someone is talking about the need to bring manufacturing back to the United States and, with it, manufacturing jobs. Designers are increasingly finding ways to produce goods in the U.S. again, and American consumers are starting again to look for a "Made in America" label.

Some brands, however, never left America's shores. Here are 12 iconic American brands that are still made in the good old U.S.A.

Smith & Wesson  

Headquarters: Springfield, Mass.

"You've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do you, punk?"

With those words uttered by Clint Eastwood as he held a .44 Magnum revolver in "Dirty Harry," a legendary American company became an icon. Started in 1852 by Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson, Smith & Wesson grew out of the factories of Springfield, Mass. into the largest manufacturer of handguns in the United States.  Their products have become the most commonly used weapons among law enforcement personnel. 

Today the company still produces its firearms in Springfield, but it also has facilities in Maine and Tennessee. Smith & Wesson also has expanded into the manufacture of handcuffs, knives, tools and tactical law enforcement footwear. 

Hershey

Headquarters: Hershey, Pa.

Around the turn of the 20^th century, Milton Snavely Hershey began experimenting with candy manufacturing. After two unsuccessful business ventures, he found success with the Lancaster Caramel Co., but Hershey’s true interest was chocolate, so he sold his caramel company in 1900 for $1 million. He manufactured the first Hershey's chocolate bar soon afterward.       

Today the company manufacturers candy in locations in Pennsylvania, Virginia and Illinois.  The main facility and headquarters remains, however, in the section of Derry, Pa., that has long been called Hershey, the self-described "Sweetest Place on Earth." There visitors can enjoy an amusement park and tour of the Hershey's factory.  Hershey is currently the leading manufacturer of chocolate and candies in North America.    

Wiffle Ball

Headquarters: Shelton, Conn.

It may not be considered the national pastime, but since the early 1950s Wiffle Ball has been an American staple. Started in 1953 by David N. Mullany, Wiffle Ball Inc. has changed very little since it released its original products, which were Mullany's way of safeguarding his son's pitching arm from injury.  In fact, the  Wiffle Ball bat and ball still have the same dimensions as when they were first sold, and there's the same artwork on the box.

Today the company still manufacturers its products in Shelton, Conn. It remains a family-run company with just 12 full-time employees that has sold its products to people in every state and 26 countries around the world.

Wilson footballs

Headquarters: Ada, Ohio

The 5,847 people of Ada, Ohio, might fill just one section of a professional football stadium, but the impact of this small town on the sport of football cannot be overstated.  Since 1955 Wilson has made every football used in professional competition, including Super Bowls, at its Ada factory.  Wilson says on its websitethat it opened the factory "to ensure that Wilson footballs would not only be American-made, but the highest-quality footballs ever produced."

Today the small town, located 80 miles from Columbus, Ohio, produces 4,000 footballs a day and 700,000 a year. It remains the only dedicated football factory in the world, employing 120 full-time employees averaging 23 years of work experience. 

Louisville Slugger

Headquarters: Louisville, Ky.

The first game of baseball is recorded to have occurred in 1846 in the town of Hoboken, N.J.  Around that same time in Louisville, Ky., a German immigrant, J. Frederick Hillerich, opened a woodworking shop.  It was not until 1880 that the two worlds intersected, when Hillerich's son, John Andrew "Bud" Hillerich, began making baseball bats for his amateur team. Several years later the Lousiville Slugger Co. began producing bats for professional baseball player Bud Browning, and word of the bats from Louisville soon spread. Soon the factory was producing bats for Honus Wagner, Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb and Lou Gehrig.  

Today Louisville Slugger employs 155 people at its 100,000-square-foot factory in Louisville.  The company has survived fires and floods to remain one of the most popular suppliers of bats. Of the 1 million bats it produces a year, 60,000 go to professional ballplayers. More than 125 years after its opening, the Louisville Slugger Co. remains family-owned, with Bud Hillerich's grandson, John A. Hillerich IV, serving as president and CEO. 

Slinky

Headquarters: Hollidaysburg, Pa.

For Richard James, all it took was $500 and a chance occurrence to launch one of the most successful toys in history. James, a naval engineer, was conducting an experiment with tension springs when one fell to the floor and began to move oddly.  James thought that with the right amount of tension, the spring could "walk." After bringing the idea home, he and his wife, Betty, came up with the name Slinky for the toy and launched it at Gimbel’s Department Store in Philadelphia in 1945.  They were unsure of how the toy would sell, but the first 400 sold out within 90 minutes, and the rest is history.

More than 300 million Slinky toys have been sold since the toy spring's introduction in 1945.  In 1966 Slinky moved its production to Hollidaysburg, Pa., and since then every Slinky has been made at that facility. The Slinky has become an iconic American toy, and the jingle used to sell it is one of the longest-running in advertising history. In 2001, the Slinky was named the official toy of Pennsylvania. 

Gibson Guitars

Headquarters: Nashville, Tenn.

Before anyone could have conceived of rock and roll, luthier Orville Gibson was starting the company that would produce the genre's signature item, the electric guitar. (Luthiers make lutes or other stringed instruments.) Gibson started the Gibson Guitar Co. in 1896 in the town of Kalamazoo, Mich. It released its first electric guitar in 1936. 

After the original Kalamazoo plant closed in 1984, the world headquarters of Gibson was moved fittingly to "Music City":  Nashville, Tenn. Gibson makes 2,500 guitars a week at its Gibson USA plant there. The plant employs 500 workers who help to hand-craft each guitar.  From its humble beginnings Gibson has grown to be an icon in the music industry, with artists like Eric Clapton and Paul McCartney using its products.

Crayola

Headquarters: Easton, Pa.

When Edwin Binney and C. Harold Smith won a gold medal at the 1900 World's Fair for a dustless chalk product, they were simply responding to the needs of local teachers. It was not until three years later that they would create their iconic product: a set of safe and affordable wax crayons. The first pack of Crayola crayons had eight colors. Since then, many colors have been added to the lineup and the company has expanded into other products, including markers and colored pencils. 

Crayola has not moved far from its original production center in Pennsylvania. Since 1969 Crayola has manufactured its popular crayons at its Easton and Bethlehem, Pa., factories. The company also has manufacturing facilities in Mexico City and Brazil handling its overseas operations. It is, however, the Easton, Pa., factory that has produced over 1 billion crayons since opening in 1969. 

Sharpie

Headquarters: Shelbyville, Tenn.

The first Sharpie markers came out in 1964, but the story behind their production goes back over 100 years before that.  In 1857 Frederick W. Redington and William H. Sanford founded the Sanford Manufacturing Co. in Worcester, Mass. The company focused on selling and producing glue and ink until the 1960s, when it noticed an opportunity in the emerging marker industry.

Today Sharpie markers are made in Shelbyville, Tenn., by the Newell Rubbermaid Co.  The Sharpie marker has become one of the best-selling writing instruments in history, with over 200 million Sharpie markers sold as of the year 2002.    

Harley-Davidson

Headquarters: Milwaukee, Wis.

For the past century, the Harley-Davidson name has been linked with motorcycles. Started in 1903 by two sets of brothers, the Harley-Davidson company grew out of a wooden shed in Milwaukee, where childhood friends Arthur Davidson and William S. Harley began to experiment with a combustion engine that would fit into a bicycle. The company sold its first motorcycle in 1903. 

Today Harley-Davidson headquarters is still in Milwaukee.  The company has two other Wisconsin factories, in Tomahawk and Menomonee Falls, plus factories in York, Pa., and Kansas City, Mo. Although many parts are made in other countries, all Harley-Davidson bikes are assembled in the U.S. plants.

Kitchenaid

Headquarters: Greenville, Ohio

It was described as being the perfect “kitchen aid” by an executive's wife, and the name for the stand mixer stuck.  Since then the Kitchenaid brand has grown into a leader in the appliance industry, but it all started with that mixer launched in 1919 as an alternative to large mixers in restaurants. In the following decades, Kitchenaid expanded into popular products such as dishwashers, refrigerators and blenders. 

All Kitchenaid mixers are still made in Greenville, Ohio. The factory employs hundreds of people and can process up to 7,000 units a day.

Airstream

Headquarters: Jackson Center, Ohio

It was on a camping trip that Wally Byam got the idea to start the Airstream Trailer Co.  Byam had bought an old Model T chassis and built a tent on it, but it was an uncomfortable and time-consuming process.  Byam then thought of building a tear-shaped aluminum shelter with an ice box and small stove in it, and the first Airstream was soon created in Byam’s Los Angeles backyard. Soon after this idea in 1932, the Airstream Trailer Co. began producing its early trailers. 

Airstream has been producing its trailers in Jackson Center, Ohio, since 1952. The company still operates under the mantra of Byam:  "Let's not make any changes ? let's make only improvements." The company manufacturers about 1,000 motor homes a year. 

Zippo

Headquarters: Bradford, Pa.

There are a lot of numbers that can tell the story of Zippo's success. For starters you could look at the 60,000 lighters the company produces every day in its Bradford, Pa., factory, or the 12 million lighters it sells every year, but perhaps the number most indicative of its success is 500 million. That’s because on June 5, 2012, the company produced its 500 millionth iconic lighter on what would have been the 117^th birthday of the company's founder, George Blaisdell.  In the more than 80 years since starting, Zippo has become one of the most recognizable brands in the world, with its lighters being sold in more than 160 countries. They also have appeared in more than 1,500 movies, the company says. 

Today George Duke, Blaisdell's grandson, owns Zippo along with the Case Cutlery Co., acquired in 1994, and the Ronson brand of lighters and fuel, acquired in 2010. The company employs almost 800 people in its Pennsylvania factories. 

Copyright 2012 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved.

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An Eye on Apple

Could a competitor take a bite out of Apple’s market share if it made smartphones in the United States?

Imagine that the next time you brave the crowds at the Apple Store and emerge with the latest iPhone or iPad, it came with a bright-red sticker on the box. On the sticker might be the number 15. Or 10. Or maybe even 5.

The sticker would quantify the percentage of the parts in each iPhone or iPad that is manufactured in the United States. Today, that number probably would be tiny, not just for Apple’s flagship products, but for essentially all the shiny technological toys, from smartphones to flat screens, that American consumers covet.

“Probably” is the operative word, because U.S. law does not require most manufacturers to disclose the “domestic content” of their products. “We know fairly little,” said Scott Nova, executive director of the Worker Rights Consortium, an advocacy group. “There have been some industry trade-press analyses that speculate about certain questions relating to production costs and where components are from…. The working assumption is that we have very little of this stuff made in the U.S.”

After a full decade of disappointing job growth, it seems reasonable to ask whether more of “this stuff” would be built in the U.S. if manufacturers were compelled to detail where they make their products. What if the government required that products sold in the U.S. must carry information about the share of the components that are manufactured here?

Although relatively few people know it, a precedent exists. In October 1992, under President Bush, Congress approved the American Automobile Labeling Act. That law requires all new vehicles sold in the U.S. to specify what percentage of the parts were manufactured in the U.S. or Canada and what percentage of the vehicle’s assembly was performed by American workers. The information is available on a sticker plastered on the window.

If the same requirement were extended to all other products, would consumers favor those with more “domestic content”? Would manufacturers rely more on U.S. suppliers to improve the number they would be required to post under such a disclosure requirement?

In the abstract, polls say the answer is yes. Consistently, Americans say they would prefer products built at home. In a September 2010 Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor Poll, two-thirds of adults listed “making a greater effort to purchase products made in America” as among the most important things that individuals could do to accelerate economic recovery. In that same survey, two-thirds (more than picked any other option) listed shifting more operations to the U.S. as the most important thing that business could do to spur recovery.

Yet many observers are skeptical that those attitudes would actually shape choices at the cash register. Robert Reich, President Clinton’s Labor secretary and now a public-policy professor at the University of California (Berkeley), argued in his trenchant 2007 book Supercapitalism that the global economy’s internal logic now encourages people to elevate their interests as consumers (low prices) and shareholders (high profits) over their concerns as workers and citizens (a thriving domestic job base). Reich says he doubts that more disclosure about domestic content “would make much difference” in Americans’ buying habits. “With regard to most consumer gadgets and products,” he says, “most American consumers assume they are made somewhere else.”

The experience with auto labeling supports Reich’s skepticism. Federal studies have found that the vast majority of consumers are unaware of the auto-labeling requirement. One study found that even among those who expressed concern about “buying American,” less than one in 10 read the disclosure label.

Considering that precedent and other factors, Nova persuasively argues that domestic-content disclosure is unlikely to change purchasing patterns unless a high-profile manufacturer chooses “to make a product here and aggressively markets the product on that basis.” In that light, smartphone and tablet technology offers a unique opportunity. The reason is Apple’s dominance of the field. Although Apple CEO Tim Cook this week publicly mused about someday manufacturing more domestically, The New York Times has concluded that today about 90 percent of the iPhone’s components are made abroad. Partly for that reason, the best estimates are that Apple’s profits represent over half of an iPhone’s price. (While Cook insisted that Apple uses more domestic parts than widely believed, the company has not released specifics.)

Manufacturing a smartphone’s components in the U.S. would undoubtedly cost more (and require time to build a domestic supply chain). But because Apple’s profit margin is so high, a competitor could potentially build a smartphone more heavily sourced in the U.S. and still match (or beat) Apple’s price. Nova notes that consumers are already paying a vast premium for “the emotional resonance” of owning an Apple product. “Does getting a product made in the United States have the same emotional resonance?” he asks. “I think so, but no one has really tried it.” If someone did, it would put American consumers to the test—and maybe compel Apple to apply its unparalleled creativity to converting Cook’s airy musings into more American jobs.

This article appeared in the Saturday, June 2, 2012 edition of National Journal.

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ITC explains why it let furniture antidumping duties stand

Says dropping them would have harmed U.S. industry

Heath E. Combs -- Furniture Today, December 28, 2010

WASHINGTON — The U.S. International Trade Commission has posted a 201-page public report containing its views and the information it considered during its recently completed sunset review of antidumping duties on wooden bedroom furniture from China.

After the sunset review process, the agency decided to leave the duties in place for another five years.

The initial order placing antidumping duties on Chinese wood bedroom imports was issued in 2004 after the U.S. government concluded that those products were unfairly priced too low.

The newly released report contains a summary of information the ITC collected during the 2010 review process from importers, domestic manufacturers, trade associations and purchasers.

The commission determined in November that revoking the duty order would lead to continued injury to an industry in the industry. It ruled in December to keep the duties in place.

In the new report, the commissioners said they "have found that revocation of the antidumping duty order on (wood bedroom furniture) from China would likely result in a significant increase in subject import volume that would likely undersell the domestic like product, thereby depressing or suppressing domestic like product prices to a significant degree.

"We find that the likely volume and price effects of the subject imports would likely have a significant adverse impact on the production, shipments, sales, market share, and revenues of the domestic industry.

"These reductions would have a direct adverse impact on the industry's profitability and employment as well as its ability to raise capital and make and maintain necessary capital investments.

"We therefore conclude that, if the antidumping duty order were revoked, subject imports would be likely to have a significant adverse impact on the domestic industry within a reasonably foreseeable time."

The report also said that several respondents argued that the commission should recognize settlement payments as part of its review. Some Chinese manufacturers have made settlement payments to the U.S. companies that originally petitioned for the antidumping review as a way to avoid the administrative review process, an annual review of a factory's duties to determine whether its rates should be adjusted. The petitioners can withdraw from review the companies that make such payments.

The ITC said the settlement payments were "not relevant" to its decision on whether to leave the antidumping duties in place.

Commissioner Daniel Pearson, however, attached a dissenting statement to the report saying the settlement agreements raised "troubling questions." He added that "additional costs and distortions have been added by the use of the administrative review and settlement process, with little evidence that these distortions have yielded any benefits to the industry overall, the U.S. consumer, or the U.S. taxpayer."

The report says that about 57 firms continue to make wooden bedroom furniture in the United States, compared to about 50,000 in China.

Here is another interesting article from the LA Times...

Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times