... but moving light manufacturing overseas was an eventual certainty. As soon as it became cheaper to manufacture an item overseas and ship it to the United States than it was to simply manufacture it here, the handwriting was on the wall. Whether we're talking about undershirts or steel, reducing costs and maximizing profit are essential elements of running any business. Sad fact of life - providing jobs for the local community is priority ninety. I'm not going to destroy my company by allowing my product to become non-competitive. If that happens, you'll lose your job anyway! Had companies not shifted manufacturing overseas, they wouldn't be in business right now. They wouldn't be able to compete with offshore products that would be produced by offshore companies and sell for substantially less. We can never, EVER return to "the way it was" fifty years ago. The United States is no longer capable of being totally self-sufficient and telling the rest of the world that we'll go it alone. Global trade is here, it's a fact of life, and it benefits America in many ways.