Saw this today. Cooper tire seeks to break off the agreement to sell out to Apollo tyre in India siting Apollo's failure to secure financing. Personally, I am a fan of Cooper tires and wasn't happy to see yet another US company sell out to a foreign interest. I get the fact that we are all operating in a global economy, but if we continue to lose our own base then what happens when our economy is completely dependent on foreign owned products. I hope that Cooper can survive and remain a U.S. company. Cooper Tire terminates $2.5 bln sale agreement with India's Apollo
I don't like seeing American companies going to foreign lands for cheaper labor, either, but that HAS to signal something...bad. Union pricing and money-grabbing here is just killing the economy.
Not a fan of Cooper Tires, but I don't like this either. Folks shopping at Walmart are not helping jobs stay stateside.
Before the collapse of the economy the US was on track to be the cheapest place to get high quality manufacturing. I number of foreign companies were looking at starting up new facilities here in the south. Now 5 years down the road we have tons of new regulations and potentially big cost for employers. No company wants to deal with that. Notice the number of auto companies announcing new plants in Mexico? They will get cheaper labor and American technical people will commute to provide expertise. There is a potential for a big manufacturing boom because of cheap natural gas in the plastic resin industry unless the government gets in the way again.
BMW and VW were looking to expand operations here. Instead they are building in Mexico. It's not just the labor rate but the reduced overall cost and fewer regulations. Don't get me wrong. I'm in favor of safe working places but it has gone overboard.