Saving North American Manufacturing

• Reducing the Cost of Doing Business

 
Reducing the Cost of Doing Business

Global business studies show that U.S. manufacturing companies bear a large burden of expenses that many of their international counterparts do not face.

External overhead costs from taxes, health and pension benefits, tort litigation, regulation and rising energy prices add approximately 22% to U.S. manufacturers' unit labor costs (nearly $5 per hour worked) relative to their major foreign competitors, a study by the National Association of Manufacturers found.

The absolute value of the excess cost burden on U.S. manufacturers (nearly $5 per hour) is almost as large as the total raw cost index for China.

Taken together, external overhead costs offset a large part of the 54% increase in productivity wrought since 1990.

MSCI favors legislation that will bring spiraling costs under control in such areas as:

• Health care
• Corporate Tax Burden 
• Energy
• Regulatory requirements
• Pollution controls
• Litigation

   Raw Cost Position of the United States And Its Nine Largest Trading Partners, 2002

• View the Cost of Doing Business Study from the National Association of Manufacturers

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