Key Parts of 1 World Trade Ctr outsourced to other countries

[ellenrr]

"At a time when President Obama is launching a massive jobs initiative, key parts of the construction project were outsourced overseas. A Chinese glass company won the contract to manufacture the special blast-resistant glass base of 1 World Trade Center. Some 250 tons of stainless steel from Germany will also be imported for the project."
...
"There was a—PPG, which is a long-standing U.S. company in Pennsylvania, had bid on this highly security-focused, blast-resistant glass. They’re experts at making it. A Chinese company that is owned essentially by the government in China came in at a very subsidized price. The Port Authority chose that contract over PPG in Pennsylvania. And as a result, the blast-resistant glass on the lower floors is coming from China.

The steel, the structural steel, is coming from Europe. And again, this is a contract that the Port Authority awarded to German firms, like Tiessen Krupp, to do the structural steel, when many steel mills in America are sitting idle and certainly could have used the business, and if they were more aggressive about seeking U.S. bids, could have been able to provide the steel for this construction."

The building has only attracted 2 tenants to date:

"One of them is the China Center, which promotes the expansion of Chinese companies in the United States.. will be seeking to locate production of—and do foreign investment in the United States, but it’s not going to be additive to our economy. It’s going to be in direct competition with our clean energy firms who do solar and wind turbines, with our electrical vehicle—electric vehicle firms, and with our industrial sector, as well. And instead of being a net benefit for the American economy—and foreign investment can be a net benefit for the American economy—this type of predatory foreign investment is actually going to make it more difficult for us to create jobs."


http://www.democracynow.org/2011/9/9/rebuilt_ground_zero_billed_as_national

[xchrom]

1. Recommend

[ixion]

2. and we wonder why there is a jobs problem

it seems pretty clear to me: When you outsource everything to corporations overseas, there will be no jobs here at home.

[Fumesucker]

3. No one could have predicted..

That a symbol of national tragedy and rebirth decline would be outsourced.

[Obamanaut]

4. We have the MLK Jr. memorial from China, why be surprised at this? nt

[BeyondGeography]

5. Vulture Tower

Money will be made, even though it's a loser.

A must read.

[SpiralHawk]

6. "My Saudi cronies (R) want to rent the Executive Suite. Smirk." - xCommander AWOL (R)

"If you question whether this is a 'true' rumor about my intimate partners, the Saudis (R), then for verification all you have to do is check my record for - smirk - what you little people so quaintly think of as 'honesty.' Sneer."

- xCommander AWOL Bush (R)

[Ineeda]

7. If you have the time, watch NOVA's

"Engineering Ground Zero" http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/engineering-ground-zero.html
It's about an hour long and very interesting. I didn't take notes, but this program seems to, at least in part, contradict information in the OP. The glass for the base was manufactured in the US, by PPG, then sent to China via cargo ship. There it was cut on special machines for the prismatic effect the architect designed, and laminated to another sheet of glass for additional strength. Upon testing, this feature failed and will be, apparently, redesigned. In addition, the structural steel beams were manufactured in the US, I believe in Pennsylvania. The show did not, ASFAIR, indicate where all the components were made, so I'm sure there is substantial truth to the article. At least they haven't imported the construction workers.

[BeyondGeography]

8. What's worse is that this should never even have been built

And it is being financed by bridge-and-tunnel toll payers, the vast majority of whom are middle class. Meantime, scammers like the $25 million man from Conde Nast's old office building and Conde Nast themselves, make out. Why they need 20 floors is beyond me; they'll probably be subleasing half of those at higher rates ( they're getting 50% off) within 3-5 years.

[NYC_SKP]

9. I hate this as much as the next person, but it is called the "WORLD TRADE Center"...

Just sayin...


This shit happened long ago and still happens today.

And people aren't helping when they buy cheap imported shit from walmart.

I hope everybody learns to support the local providers and manufacturers, including shoes, food, and hardware, etc.

[pampango]

10. German manufacturing workers make at least 50% more than US manufacturing workers.

From the Democracy Now link:

JUAN GONZALEZ: Scott, when you mention the fact of a German company being heavily involved in some of the materials, we often hear the argument in this country that these kinds of industrialized union jobs are too expensive to be done here in the United States. Yet Germany, the German work force is highly unionized, very well paid, and still manages to be able to compete in terms of industrial jobs and industrial production. Why is that?

SCOTT PAUL: Yeah, it’s a good question. It’s the right question to ask, Juan. "And it is a fact that German manufacturing workers are paid an average of $48 an hour. In the United States, the average for manufacturing workers is $32 an hour. Germany has a national healthcare system. As you know, we do not. Germany has thick regulation, a much more progressive tax system than the United States does, yet Germany thrives in manufacturing. Germany has held its share of manufacturing throughout the last decade, while China has risen, and the U.S. has dramatically declined, in fact by one-third just over the last decade.

Why couldn't an American company bid competitively on the steel contract with the German company paying 50% more for its labor and having to ship its finished product across the Atlantic Ocean?

[ellenrr]

13. Yes! I found this segment very interesting. I had no idea

that this was true about the German economy. Germany seems a good example for us/ a good rebuttal to the teapartiers - when we talk about jobs and healthcare and tax system.

[kenny blankenship]

11. Nothing another 3 or 4 "Free Trade" Agreements couldn't fix!

[pampango]

12. Unlikely, but we do better trading with FTA countries than with the rest of the world.

What's weird in this case is that American steel companies lost the bid to a German company that pays its workers 50% more than the American companies pay.

How did that happen? Did the American companies submit high bids thinking they could maximize their profits at the Port Authority's expense while the German company (with union representatives on its board) submitted a more reasonable bid in part to keep their employees working? How could American companies with lower labor costs lose the bid to a German one? If we can't compete with a country that pays its workers more than we do, the problem goes beyond trade agreements.