Plain Talk The War Rages On COLUMN BY ROB BUKSAR At this stage we all ought to be fed up and tired of hearing econo- mists, analysts and politicians say they are for free trade as long as it’s fair trade but never get around to defining or demanding the “fair” part of the trade game. Our country and industry has no shortage of folks who need medication for delusions. They work hard trying to convince the uninformed that the awesome busi- ness failures, foreclosures, downsizing, outsourcing and overall loss of dignified paying opportunities is solely due to the free market system cleaning itself? Quite frankly, there is some cleaning going on. We’re having our “economic clocks cleaned” by the Third World. The foun- dation of the American economy is man- ufacturing and we are all being beaten severely around the head and shoulders. The only cleaning will be the dust from our crumbled economic foundation! Just recently we lost a couple more longtime friends and suppliers. Both East Coast Starter Drive and Major Armature were both around since short- ly after World War II. Were they bad businessmen or out of step with the cir- cumstances? I don’t think so. They just continued to be “painted into a corner” by our overseas assault of goods and services that were not possible for them to compete with. No matter what the unnationalistic, one world, global minded thinkers try to convince you about our new dynamic economy this you can take to the bank and easily prove to yourself. It’s not possible to have “fair and free” interna- tional trade, particularly with lesser developed countries. There are just too many political, economic, and social variables that can’t be balanced to make it fair. Under these present cir- cumstances we here on the domestic front will continue to lose. I pray daily that more would wake up and realize we are in a no-win situation. All that being said let me add to the sad reality of our economic circum- stances. A new crisis is coming on quickly. It’s no secret that the price of scrap has gone through the roof. The junkyards, core dealers, and scrap guys are in “hog heaven.” I’ll give you three guesses who’s at the root of this issue and the first two don’t count. Ta-da, it’s Red China. The Chinese are buying up all the scrap metals they can get their hands on to fuel their economy. The Chinese buying U.S. scrap met- als is nothing new. However, if it’s at a rate that dramatically affects the market here, and it is, something is wrong and should be looked into. Typically, when steel prices were quoted, the quotes were good for 30 days. Now the quoted prices are good for only 48 hours and in some cases only 24 hours. Call a local steel supplier and check this out for yourself. You’ll get an earful. You all are already seeing copper surcharges show up here and there. Be prepared to see a lot more. According to the Commerce Dept., in 1999 the United States exported 86,601 metric tons of copper-based scrap to Communist China, nearly 27 percent of all American copper exports. However, by 2003, the volume to China increased to 532,901 metric tons, accounting for 71 percent of total U.S. copper exports. To make a long story short, the Chinese are buying so much of our raw materials they have created critical short- ages in the United States. Domestic prices for steel, copper, aluminum, card- board, etc., have gone through the roof. The prices of American made goods are forced upwards because of material costs creating greater appeal for Chinese goods. Exacerbating this pricing conun- drum are the usual Chinese exporting advantages of slave labor rates, no social taxes or EPA compliance, and a fixed exchange rate between the dollar and the yen. “Catch-22.” We are in deep trouble getting closer to being over our heads! The Communist Chinese are not only after our jobs, but our raw materials too! If the manufacturing jobs and raw mate- rials are taken away, where does that leave us? Just a couple thoughts on a closing note: I don’t suggest by any means that you shouldn’t take advantage of high priced scrap market. What I am suggest- ing is you exercise good wisdom and judgment regarding what you do scrap out. As long as there is a rebuilding busi- ness, the core of this business is the cores. Many armature, rotor and stator cores have already become critical and almost impossible to find. So use a little vision about scraping some of this stuff out. Once those cores go to Asia you’ll never see them back in circulation again. Lastly, whether you want to face up to this or not is your business. If you don’t that doesn’t change the fact that we are at war over the American dollar. Every dol- lar that anyone spends on an imported product is one less dollar a domestic sup- plier has the opportunity to get to enable him to remain open and of service. At least give your domestic sources a chance. It’s impossible to survive without your support. Major and East Coast are gone. Between the both of them was al