Job Creation
With unemployment hovering around 7 percent, Congress must find ways to support job creation. I believe that one important way to improve our economy is to rebuild our manufacturing sector and bring manufacturing jobs back to America.
NEW ONLINE TOOL TO BOOST AMERICAN MANUFACTURING I recently announced the launch of a new online tool that I directed the U.S. Department of Commerce to create to help American businesses get better data on the “hidden costs” of outsourcing jobs to countries like China. By helping businesses make better decisions, we can keep more jobs in
the U.S. – and encourage firms to bring jobs back home.
The Assess Costs Everywhere (ACE) tool details the costs and risks associated with offshore production and provides testimony from business owners who decided to bring their manufacturing back to America. I am excited about this new resource and its potential to help business owners understand the benefits of bringing jobs home.
The ACE tool is available at acetool.commerce.gov.
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According to a Boston Consulting Group survey, some of the largest U.S. based manufacturers have already brought jobs back to America or are considering bringing jobs back to America. In the past, companies were focused on outsourcing jobs to other countries but now the conversation is changing. Due to high production costs and the increasing cost of labor in countries like China, companies are now interested in bringing jobs home. I introduced legislation last year that would help manufacturing companies accomplish this goal. To read more about the survey click here.
HEARINGS THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE In March 2012, I hosted a thematic hearing looking at the decline of the U.S. manufacturing sector and its consequences for American competitiveness in the 21st Century.
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Directing the Commerce Department to Focus on Bringing Jobs Back to the U.S.:
Legislative Information
Floor Statements
As chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that funds the Commerce Department, I have repeatedly included language in the annual Appropriations bills for the Commerce Department directing the department to develop a comprehensive plan aimed at bringing manufacturing and other jobs back to America.
Among these efforts -- first begun in the FY 2012 Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations bill and continued into FY 2013 and FY 2014 – are requirements that the Commerce Department:
- Develop an online calculator for firms to use to determine “hidden costs” of offshoring manufacturing such as shipping or security costs.
- Provide $5 million in Economic Development Agency (EDA) grant money to be used to encourage U.S. companies to bring their services, manufacturing, and/or research and development activities back to economically distressed regions in the U.S.
- Provide $5 million in federal loan guarantees to small and medium-sized manufacturers for the use or production of innovative technologies.
- Hire staff who can translate trade documents received from China to deal with challenges associated with enforcing existing trade laws.
- Fully funds the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to negotiate, verify and enforce trade agreements that are free and fair
These bills have incorporated much of my bipartisan Bring Jobs Back to America bill (H.R. 516) introduced in the 111th and 112th Congresses.
- USA Today: How the U.S. Can Launch a Manufacturing renaissance (06/21/10)
- Response from Secretary Locke to Wolf call for repatriation program (05/07/10)
- The Wall Street Journal: Caterpillar Joins "Onshoring" Trend (03/11/10)
The Virginian-Pilot June 17, 2011
"The Warner-Wolf bill would allow states to substantially increase the dollar amount of incentives they offer to move jobs back onshore. That'll be good for any company that creates new jobs...Even so, it's a start. And new jobs create more new jobs. With the economy showing signs of stalling again, such an incentive can only help."
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Increasing Exports
- Loudoun Times: U.S. Secretary of Commerce makes a short-notice stop in Loudoun (06/21/10)
"Locke lauded U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10th) for his advocacy of American companies abroad. Wolf knows what exports can do, not just for our economy and American workers, but the benefits of strong commercial presence abroad, Locke said." - National Export Initiative
- Grants, Contracting, and Trade Opportunities at the Commerce Department